Dragon Magazine #158

SPECIAL
Issue #158
Vol. XV, No. 1
June 1990
Publisher
James M. Ward
Editor
Roger E. Moore
Fiction editor
Barbara G. Young
Assistant editor
Dale A. Donovan
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10
We’ve waited for you: DRAGONS!
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20
24
A Spell of Conversation — Ed Friedlander
If you’d rather talk with a dragon than fight it, use this spell.
Art director
Larry W. Smith
Production staff
Gaye O’Keefe Angelika Lokotz
Subscriptions
Janet L. Winters
U.S. advertising
Tammy Volp
Sheila Gailloreto
U.K. correspondent
and U.K. advertising
Sue Lilley
ATTRACTIONS
A collection of lore about our most favorite monster.
The Mightiest of Dragons — George Ziets
In the D&D® game, no one fools with the dragon rulers and lives for
long.
The Dragon’s Bestiary — The readers
The gorynych (very gory) and the (uncommon) common dragonet.
That’s Not in the Monstrous Compendium! — Aaron McGruder
Remember those neutral dragons with gemstone names? They’re 2nd
Edition now!
OTHER
8
30
36
41
45
47
58
80
82
104
FEATURES
The Game Wizards — James M. Ward
Should we ban the demon? The readers respond—and how!
Also Known As... the Orc — Ethan Ham
Renaming a monster has more of an effect than you think.
The Rules of the Game — Thomas M. Kane
If you really want more gamers, then create them!
The Voyage of the Princess Ark — Bruce A. Heard
Sometimes it’s better not to know what you are eating.
A Role-player’s Best Friend — Michael J. D’Alfonsi
Give your computer the job of assistant Dungeon Master.
The Role of Computers — Hartley, Patricia and Kirk Lesser
The world of warfare, from the past to the future.
Ivory in the Blood — fiction by Brian A. Hopkins
They were the last of their kinds: dragon and dragonslayer.
Novel Ideas — Will Larson
New titles are arriving for the world of the DRAGONLANCE® saga.
Role-playing Reviews — Jim Bambra
An exercise in terror: Chaosium’s CALL OF CTHULHU® game revised.
Through the Looking Glass — Robert Bigelow
A miniatures campaign can be wonderful, but it’s never easy.
DEPARTMENTS
5 Letters
6 Forum
56 Editorial
68 Gamers Guide
71 Sage Advice
78 Convention Calendar
86 TSR Previews
95 Dragonmirth
96 Twilight Empire
COVER
In the nick of time, Gerald Brom (a recent full-time addition to the artists’ staff of
TSR, Inc.) produced a painting for our cover, a portrait that he just had sitting
around. “Dragon’s Nest” reveals the primary hazard of acquiring a dragon’s egg:
dealing with the mother dragon.
4 JUNE 1990
What did you think of this issue? Do you have
a question about an article or have an idea for a
new feature you’d like to see? In the United
States and Canada, write to: Letters, DRAGON®
Magazine, P.O. Box 111, Lake Geneva WI 53147,
U.S.A. In Europe, write to: Letters, DRAGON
Magazine, TSR Ltd., 120 Church End, Cherry
Hinton, Cambridge CB1 3LD, United Kingdom.
“Best of” fever
Dear Dragon:
I’ve been an avid reader of this magazine for
seven years now. I love all of the articles and
input from the many who read and research
with it. I have collected a lot of the issues from
#100 on, but I’ve been waiting for The Best of
DRAGON Magazine anthology, volume VI. . . .
Can you tell me when I can expect it, or if there
is ever going to be one?
We have been discussing the possibility of
another “Best of” anthology, but we have not
been able to get it approved for our product
schedule. However, it’s still being kicked around.
If you would like to see volume VI, then by all
means write to us and tell us what you would
like for it to contain: Monsters? Magical items?
New spells? Special articles for DMs? Some of
your own favorite articles? Be specific when you
write. The more letters we get, the better the
chances are that a new “Best of” will appear!
Eco-diskettes?
Dear Dragon:
I am writing in response to the letter asking if
you would put the magazine on diskettes instead of on paper [in issue #153]. Your response
to this question was typical. Sure, it may be
easier to continue to ship the magazine as it is
not so much because, as you put it, “you don’t
have to plug in your computer to read each
issue,” but because the cost of doing it would be
more than you would be willing to spend. This
is the attitude that makes the rain forest what it
is today—that being depleted. For if you would
start putting the magazine on disk, this would
help to save this planet we are on. It goes that
we can’t go out and build another one. And just
think of how many trees would be saved if
other magazines would do the same. I know if
we recycled, this too would help. But what I am
saying is that the less paper we use in the first
place, the better. I sure would like to go to a
totally paperless workplace.
Ronnie Cook
Columbus GA
I noticed that you sent your letter to me on
paper, which indicates that you haven’t fully
thought out the implications of what you are
saying. Briefly, paper is a more durable medium
than the computer diskette; magnetic fields and
computer crashes will not harm your reading
enjoyment of a paper magazine, which can be
shared with the public at large. We haven’t
investigated the cost involved in producing a
diskette magazine simply because we have no
interest in limiting our audience to those who
use computers. For which computer systems
should we program those diskettes? And how
could advertisers (who do help pay our bills) use
the diskette for advertising? I, too, would like to
go to a paperless workplace, but paper is easily
made, easily used, and easily disposed of—and,
unlike a computer diskette, paper is biodegradable. Finally, you must know that in order to
produce the massive amounts of power required to construct and operate computer
systems (among other modern appliances), you
must have power companies and all the ecological problems that go with them, not to mention
the production processes involved in making
both computers and their little diskettes. You
can plant trees to make more paper You cannot
plant petroleum or ores to make more diskettes.
I completely missed your connection between
the rain forests (which are being destroyed to
provide farmland) and producing the magazine
on diskette, or how this would save the planet,
but what the heck. Your enthusiasm for ecology
is good, but a little more research would help.
How do umber
hulks smell?*
Dear Dragon:
I was just rereading “The Ecology of the
Umber Hulk,” by Tony Jones in issue #152. The
article was very good and quite informative, but
I noticed something that I believe may have
been a mistake. Early in the article, Mr. Jones
states that the “creature lacks a nose but
breathes through gill-like structures on its
almost nonexistent neck.” However, later in the
article, he claims that like “most underground
creatures, umber hulks have more highly developed senses of smell . . . than eyesight.” How is
this possible? And if they do have some way of
“smelling,” what is the range of this sense?
Niv Goldberg
Lexington VA
Hmm. We hadn’t thought about that while we
were editing the article, but there is really no
reason why a creature could not have olfactory
receptors around its gill openings. The range of
any olfactory sense, however, is your immediate
area. If you can smell chlorine gas, for example,
you’re standing in it. The source of an odor you
detect can be at any range so long as the odor is
potent enough to be detected or your nose is
sensitive enough to find it. Wind velocity, your
health, and the presence of other odors will
affect your ability to detect odors as well.
* They smell terrible! (an old gnomish joke)
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DRAGON 5
“Forum” welcomes your comments and opinions
on role-playing games. In the United States and
Canada, write to: Forum, DRAGON® Magazine,
PO. Box 111, Lake Geneva WI 53147, U.S.A. In
Europe, write to: Forum, DRAGON Magazine,
TSR Ltd, 120 Church End, Cherry Hinton,
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that material submitted to “Forum” be either
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ribbon and clean keys so we can read and
understand your comments.
I confess I’m completely baffled by Michael
Griffith’s letter in issue #154. I can’t see anything at all evil about the tactic he describes. In
football, it’s known as “looking off” your receivers: A quarterback will look at one receiver,
hoping the defensive backs will read his eyes
and not worry so much about the other receivers; then the quarterback suddenly turns and
throws to someone else. Joe Montana gave an
excellent demonstration of the tactic in this
year’s Super Bowl. Are all great quarterbacks
who do this necessarily evil? Another similar
situation is when a prisoner pretends to be
asleep, hoping the guard bringing his supper
will get careless. What’s evil about that? If
people who play good characters in Mr. Griffith’s game are forced to renounce all such
misdirection tactics, they must be real pushovers in a fight.
Ralph Sizer
Providence RI
I am writing in response to Eric Oppen’s
article, “The Making of a Paladin,” in issue #154.
I agreed with and enjoyed reading his views of
the training and lives of paladins, except for one
paragraph. Personally, I cannot believe a lawfulgood cleric would animate corpses in order to
better instruct paladins or even clerics on the
strengths and weaknesses of such monsters,
regardless of whose permission the cleric obtains. Wouldn’t it be better to take the students
on a field trip to a haunted house? At least this
way the cleric will not be looked upon with
disfavor from his deity for not letting those who
have passed away rest in peace. The third-level
cleric spell, animate dead, from the 1st Edition
Players Handbook, states, “The act of animating
dead is not basically a good one, and it must be
used with careful consideration and good reason by clerics of good alignment.” But the 2nd
Edition Players Handbook clearly points out,
“Casting this spell is not a good act, and only evil
priests use it frequently.” Let the students adventure. There’s no better way than to let them
get “hands-on” experience in the real fantasy
world!
Brian Smarker
Kansas City MO
I’m writing this letter in response to several
articles in “The Art of Making War” section of
issue #154. The articles I wish to comment on
are those by Dan Salas entitled “For King and
Country,” and by Thomas M. Kane entitled “How
to Win Wars and Influence People.”
Mr. Salas claimed to base his article on the
Roman Army, but I am sure that no Roman
would have recognized it as such. For example,
he says: “Marching troops travel in defensive
formations, usually in a column no more than
6 JUNE 1990
20 men wide . . .” Twenty men wide? Such a
column would need a roadway 20 yards wide at
the minimum, and any attempt to make a turn
would be very difficult. If anyone has ever
marched in a company front formation used by
modern armies for formal parades or has
watched marching bands will know just how
hard it is to turn a wide column. Given the
condition of roads in a medieval society, a
column front of two or three men is all that was
possible. The entire military art of moving
troops up until the invention of breach-loading
firearms consisted of deploying from such a
column to a line of battle as quickly as possible.
Usually this was done by having the column do
a right or left turn into line. Marching in step
makes this much easier, of course, which is why
the Greeks learned to do this back before the
battle of Marathon (490 B.C.). No, Mr. Kane,
Frederick the Great did not develop cadence
step. The Greeks, the Romans, the Persians, the
Medieval Swiss, the Swedes, and the English
(just to name a few) were all using cadence step
before Frederick the Great was born.
Another flaw in both articles is each author’s
attempt to fix certain attitudes or formations
without understanding the historical base. For
example, Mr. Salas sets (using some Roman
terms) the size of a squad at 10 men, a halfcentury at 50, and a century at 100. Now it is
true that the Latin word centuria, from which
“century” comes, means 100; but in my dictionary it is defined, in its military usage, only as a
subdivision of a legion. By the late republican
period of Rome, the century had become a
subdivision of a maniple, which consisted of 120
men. Given the way in which infantry armies
had to form for battle and the problems of
controlling troops on the march, a formation of
60 men in a century makes more sense than one
of 50, because you can divide 60 by 4, 3, or 2,
and still get an even number. This makes it easy
to set up a march column with a front of either
two or three men and keep the entire unit
together either in column or line. I should note
that the Romans used an infantry block with a
front of 10 men in six ranks. I should not be too
hard on Mr. Salas in this respect. Almost every
article I have seen in DRAGON Magazine on
military organization overlooks the battle formations used by the troops and the reasons why
those formations were used, and thus misses
the reasons behind the formation of units above
squad size. In armies fighting with hand-held
weapons, corporals commanded squads and
were part of the rank and file; their number
should, when divided by four, come out with an
even number. This arrangement simplifies the
deployment from column into line as an army
moves into battle. Any other system of formation leaves the commander with the problem of
what to do with unit remainders while maintaining tactical cohesion.
There are also attitudes in the articles by Mr.
Salas and Mr. Kane I have to comment on. I
think Mr. Salas should have read Julius Caesar’s
Gallic War before he said that “the recruits are
put through several weeks of basic training.” In
his book, Caesar at one point remarks of certain
soldiers, while discussing a battle, “they being
recruits of less than five years’ training, I left
them to guard the baggage.” It takes a long, long
time to train soldiers. When I was in the U.S.
service, basic infantry training took 16 weeks
and was followed by some sort of advanced
training lasting from 8 to 24 weeks more before
the soldier was considered ready for duty in a
tactical unit. As recently as the start of this
century, the U.S. Army figured it took about 9
months to train a soldier. In the Civil War it took
two years to train men without prior experience
in horsemanship for cavalry service. This figure
did, however, include unit training.
I would also like to know where Mr. Salas got
his ideas about punishments and rewards. At
one point he talks about dragging as inflicting
1-4 hp damage per hour. As for rewards, medals
were not given to officers until the 19th century, and enlisted men didn’t start getting them
until the 20th century. With respect to looting, it
was the prerogative of the soldier in European
armies, and was often considered a basic part of
his pay until after the time of Gustavus II (15941632); it continued in the form of prize money
in the U.S. Naval services until 1898.
Mr. Kane is long on theory but in error on
some facts. He says: “a king’s noble vassals
would never . . . dishonor themselves by fighting on foot.” I suggest that Mr. Kane needs to
add Henry Dwight Sedgwick’s The Black Prince,
a biography of Edward, Prince of Wales, to his
bibliography. The French knights had trouble
fighting on foot at times, but this certainly did
not apply to the English. Also, in speaking about
infantry, he overlooked the talents in this kind
of warfare displayed by the Swiss, the Scots, the
Welsh, the Germans, and the Spanish during the
medieval period. Another book to read is B. H.
Liddell Hart’s Strategy.
James S. Watson
Madison WI
I would like to add to the bibliography of
Thomas Kane’s “All in the Family” (issue #153),
especially as some of these works are easier to
locate than those referenced in the article—it
took a specialist in used books six months to
locate a copy of Shield and Crest, whereas most
of the books in the list that follows were obtained via Barnes & Noble or similar clearance
catalogs during the past few years.
Fox-Davies, Arthur Charles. A Complete Guide
to Heraldry London: Orbis Publishing Limited, 1985 (original copyright 1909).
Fox-Davies, Arthur Charles. The Art of
Heraldry London: Bloomsbury Books, 1986
(original copyright 1904).
Friar, Stephen. A Dictionary of Heraldry. New
York: Harmony Books (a division of Crown
Publishers, Inc.), 1987.
von Volborth, Carl-Alexander. The Art of Heraldry Poole, Dorset, England: Blandford
Press, 1987.
Woodcock, Thomas, and John Martin Robinson.
The Oxford Guide to Heraldry. Oxford:
Oxford University Press, 1988.
Either of Fox-Davies’s works would serve as a
reference to the art. The “revision” of the Complete Guide consists of footnotes pointing out
errors or differences from current practice. The
Dictionary, while quite complete, is not suitable as
a text. The Art of Heraldry (von Volborth’s) and the
Oxford Guide offer historical perspectives on the
Continued on page 28
The Game Wizards
Angry Mothers, part 2: Revenge of the readers
by James M. Ward
From the American Heritage Dictionary,
we have the following:
flood v. 1. To cover or submerge
with ...; inundate. 2. To fill with an abundance or an excess.
Thank you, thank you, thank you. I don’t
know if you can call 91 + letters a flood,
but I think the definition fits in this case.
These letters all came in response to “The
Game Wizards“ column on angry mothers
in DRAGON® issue #154 (and they are still
coming in at the rate of four letters a day).
Before I get into the meat of this column, I
would like to share a few of the comments
made by DRAGON Magazine readers.
A. Van Valin writes, “When I have children and they are old enough, I’ll start
them on AD&D [games]. I hope it will be a
rich experience for them, unfettered by
the visions of somebody else’s mother.”
Jim Laubacker writes, “[Could TSR publish] an ‘Outer Planes’ Monstrous Compendium, including demons and devils? . . . [or
invent] new other-plane monsters with
designs on the Prime Material? . . . Don’t
call them demons and devils, and don’t
make them sound like demons and devils.”
Paul Astle writes, “I cannot help but feel
that there is a degree of loyalty that
should be shown to the players of the
game who have stood by TSR and, on
occasion, have had to face down, in a very
literal way, these same demon-bashing,
evangelistic, close-minded boors. . . .”
David E. Cates writes, “In bending over
backwards to the wishes of people who
know nothing about the game, [Jim Ward]
showed a total lack of consideration to the
customer. Another triumph for a small but
rabid minority group.”
John McCash writes, “You might as well
have reduced the entire column to three
words: “We Cave In!!!” There, that feels
much better.”
William A. Nolan writes, “By the way, I
would not have objected if you had said,
‘We did not put demons and devils into the
2nd Edition [Monstrous Compendium]
because we find them to be objectionable.”
That isn’t censorship. It only becomes
censorship when an outside group dictates
to you (successfully, in this case) what you
should print.”
Maurice Stratton writes, “Never in my life
has any of my friends brought his mommy
with him to check a module to see if any
demons or devils were mentioned.”
Jim O’Brien writes, “It is not that we, the
gamers, cannot pick and choose what bits
8 JUNE 1990
Artwork by David Trampier
of the first edition we still like and incorporate them into our second-edition game.
It is not that we even have to use the
second edition. It is (pardon the cliché) the
principle”
Lastly, I received a wonderful statement
from the following people: E. R. Buzzard,
B.A.; J. G. Harrison, M.D.; D. Lindsay, U.S.
Army; B. M. Muncher, U.S. Navy; J. B.
White, Ph.D. (almost); and A. M. Velotas,
B.A.: “[Jim Ward] notes the transition from
‘hack and slash to ‘save the princess’ adventures. The addition of demons and
devils provides an excellent backdrop to
save not just a princess, but a world.”
So, where does that leave us? It leaves
me very impressed with DRAGON Magazine’s readers. All of the letters were very
well written and to the point. About 95%
of them covered the same topic, the censoring of demons and devils in the game.
Many of these letters offered the same
solution to this situation—a plan that TSR
has already put into effect. In January
1991, TSR will print an interplaner Monstrous Compendium. It will be a binder
with 96 pages of interplaner beings with
unusual powers, most of those creatures
being evil or chaotic in nature. I am fairly
sure that they will solve the problem that
almost all of the letter writers have taken
the time to address.
The bottom line on the topic of “angry
mothers” is that TSR can uphold the concepts of goodness winning over evil and
the cause of right versus might, just as
long as we don’t take the fun and interest
out of the game. And we won’t.
Since I am on the topic of things in the
future, I thought I would name a few
products that TSR would come out with in
1991. Doug Niles has written a wonderful
series of FORGOTTEN REALMS™ books set
in an Aztec world, and we are going to let
him write a Maztica boxed rules set. Jeff
Grubb, the lead designer of the SPELLJAMMER™ game series, will be creating
another boxed set for that campaign
world. Bruce Nesmith, the lead designer of
the RAVENLOFT™ series, will help create a
series of products including a RAVENLOFT
Monstrous Compendium filled with creatures that do more than go bump in the
night. Steve Winter is going to redevelop
the psionics rules for the AD&D 2nd Edition game and help create The Complete
Psionics Handbook. TSR is also coming out
with an entirely new AD&D campaign
world, but I don’t want to deal with that
just yet except to say that I am very impressed with the concept.
The D&D® game will soon have its new
Hollow Earth campaign set, and work will
be started on several other important
D&D rules sets. The BUCK ROGERS®
XXVc™ game will have several fascinating
new products, including a hardbound
book, novels, and more information on the
inner worlds of the solar system. The
MARVEL SUPER HEROES™ game will get a
facelift and have its Basic Set redone. In
the SPI™ line, TSR will print a Pacific War
board game. The book department will
put out its usual number of fine selections
in the FORGOTTEN REALMS and
DRAGONLANCE® saga areas; there will
also be SPELLJAMMER™ novels for the
first time.
The year 1991 promises to be an exciting and entertaining one for the designers
and editors of TSR as well as the players
of TSR’s role-playing games. As time goes
on, I will give you more detail on the
schedule, but this gives you a taste of what
TSR is putting together.
BUCK ROGERS and XXVc are trademarks used under
license from The Dille Family Trust. ©1990 The Dille Family
Trust. All Rights Reserved.
MARVEL SUPER HEROES is a trademark of the Marvel
Entertainment Group, Inc. All Marvel characters, names, and
the distinctive likenesses thereof are trademarks of the
Marvel Entertainment Group, Inc. ©1990 Marvel Entertainment Group, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
10 JUNE 1990
D&D® game dragons have their own rulers, too
by George Ziets
From the very start of a player’s D&D®
game experience, his ultimate foe is the
dragon. Dragons have the greatest number of hit points, the most powerful combat abilities, and most important, the
biggest treasure hoards.
Then there comes a time, as characters
reach 20th level or so, when whomping a
160-hp huge red dragon in just five combat rounds isn’t what it used to be. So the
heroes go on to the next best thing: the
dragon rulers. Using whatever methods
are available to them, characters travel to
the home plane of a dragon ruler and
challenge it. Of course, they find themselves hopelessly outclassed. But no matter, think the players. Some of the heroes
are bound to escape, and escape they do,
especially since players like to take out the
Lawful ruler, Diamond the Star Dragon,
first. Not only is it the most powerful, it
doesn’t send 4,000 red dragons in pursuit
of the fleeing party.
So the characters rest, recover, go on
some more adventures, and maybe even
take a side trip to the home of their favorite Immortal, who gets them started on a
quest for Immortality. But inevitably, the
greedy players look back toward their old
nemesis, the dragon ruler. For if there is
one creature less forgetful than the elephant, it is the D&D game player.
The characters will find some crafty
way of luring the dragon ruler out of its
home plane to an ambush point where a
small army of compatriots await, along
with several hundred magical items and
whatever else the party can get its hands
on. Needless to say, the dragon ruler will
give them quite a fight anyway, and if the
characters win, they will be a whole lot
poorer (and angrier, when they discover
that dragon rulers do not carry their
treasure hoards with them when they
travel).
The question remains: Why do players
even bother to go through with this? Probably it is because they see something more
powerful than themselves and so have that
irrepressible urge to destroy it. And what
does it accomplish? Nothing, other than to
turn these interesting creatures into lists
of statistics. But what if you told those
same players that the dragon rulers could
be allies as well as enemies?
“What?!” they would probably exclaim.
“Dragons as allies? I’d sooner play strip
poker with a kobold!” In doing so, they are
falling right into the ancient trap that roleplayers always fall for. They have lost the
old thrill of role-playing and only want
treasure and experience out of adventures.
So how can these dragon rulers, the
ultimate challenges but also excellent roleplaying opportunities for players and DMs,
be revived? First, something more must be
known about these noble beasts and their
home planes, known as the Draconian
Cluster. The statistics for the dragon
rulers are given in the Master DM’s Book,
pages 28-29, and in the DM’s Guide to
Immortals, page 39. The Draconian Cluster is detailed herein.
The Draconian Cluster
The home planes of the Dragons are
part of the Outer Planes. They are fourdimensional Standard Planes. All have
guardians near their edges so as to keep
out all nondragons. However, each is very
different from the others.
Pearl: The Moon Dragon’s plane is a
nightmarish place—twisted, black, and
evil, with no specific form. Gray towers
rise up from the tops of craggy ebony
mountains or lie in cold dark seas. There
is no individualism, and a dragon spirit’s
desire to sacrifice itself for its leader is
greater than ever here. Of all the rulers,
Pearl could be termed the most evil,
though even it yields to the Great One.
As the weakest of the dragon rulers, the
Moon Dragon finds it necessary to surround itself with inhospitable conditions,
ever suspicious—as is its nature—of the
other dragon rulers. Characters on this
Chaotic plane find their worst nightmares
confronting them, for the plane feeds off
of the minds of those who enter it. A
warrior who lacks a magical weapon will
find himself challenged by some beast that
can be harmed by only such a weapon. A
group whose cleric has died will be attacked by swarms of undead. The plane
preys on party members’ fears and acts on
those fears. Many a brave adventurer has
been reduced to a blubbering madman by
the horrors encountered here. Only dragons are immune to these effects. Specifics
of such encounters are left up to the DM,
but as a general rule the guardians conjured up in the Moon Dragon’s plane
should not be impossible to defeat, as
Pearl prefers to personally challenge especially formidable enemies (those able to
survive the many perils of his plane). In
any event, it should be a significantly
difficult trek to the Moon Dragon’s lair.
The Moon Dragon lives in a huge black
tower at the center of the Plane. Pearl
usually does not receive guests and is
guarded by thousands of dragon spirits.
The spirits of this plane are more likely to
attack all nondragon or nondraeden visitors than those of any other plane.
Opal: It is never day or night on the
plane of Opal, lord of the neutral dragons.
This plane is a dark cave network stretching through tunnel after tunnel, and only
the Sun Dragon knows all the secret ways
of this home. Here independence is
stressed, but all dragons obey the mighty
will of Opal.
In the cave networks of the Sun Dragon’s home plane, characters quickly become lost unless they have a dragon guide
or some magical means of finding their
way. Dragon spirits met will be on business of their own and will usually have no
interest in attacking or even speaking to
intruders. The Sun Dragon passes the time
in the center of this maze of caverns and
tunnels, pondering mysteries and speaking
with subordinates about the everimportant Balance. Should characters
interrupt Opal, there is a 50% chance he
will respond favorably to his visitors (but
if he doesn’t . . .). Even if the Sun Dragon
agrees to speak with adventurers, there is
no guarantee he will help them or speak to
them again, for Opal has an extremely
changeable personality.
Diamond: In the vast palace of Diamond, the Star Dragon, pure order and
good hold sway, with every dragon spirit
having a job to do. There are always
guests in Diamonds shining palace, be
they powerful Immortals or Archons. The
Star Dragon itself sits on a huge throne of
platinum and receives all visitors civilly,
though Chaos is not tolerated and those
who oppose Law are kindly, but forcefully,
made to leave.
The Star Dragon’s plane is the most
welcoming to visitors. Dragon spirits here
exist to serve the guests of Diamond.
When characters arrive, they will inevitably be discovered by one of the many
dragon spirit guards in the citadel and
observed to determine their dispositions.
Should the visitors prove hostile, hundreds
of Lawful dragon spirits descend on them,
more to drive them out than to kill them.
However, if trespassers do nothing to
DRAGON 11
arouse suspicion, the spirits greet them
and provide an escort to the throne room
of Diamond, where they are asked their
business. Though the Star Dragon rarely
grants requests personally, he is glad to
send a servant to aid in the forwarding of
a Lawful cause, should it prove to be
significant. Outside the palace are vast
golden fields where other dragon spirits
live when they are awaiting their turns to
serve Diamond in his palace.
The Great Dragon: None dare oppose
the Great One in its seemingly infinite
home, a boundless waste that can form
itself into any arrangement according to
the whims of its ruler. The Great Dragon’s
servants are the most noble of all dragons,
the mightiest and the most feared. It is an
unparalleled honor to be called to serve
this being. None may enter this plane
without the Great One’s bidding, and none
may find the Great One unless it wishes to
be found.
It is nearly impossible to gain access to
the home plane of the Great Dragon. Unlike most Outer Planes, entrance into it is
only possible through one of the other
three planes of the Draconian Cluster. Of
course, the Great One itself may enter its
realm wherever and whenever it wishes.
The plane is a strange gray land, with
relatively few encounters with dragon
spirits. Those that are met are the most
powerful of their kind, however, and they
attack those who are not expected by the
Great Dragon. Draedens (DM’s Guide to
Immortals, pages 38-39) may also be encountered here, coming or going from
audiences with the Great One. Such an
audience for a mortal creature is a great
honor, given only to the most powerful
adventurers. The description given of the
Great One by those who have seen it varies greatly. It seems that it can change its
appearance at will, becoming any type of
dragon as well as a human, demihuman,
or any other creature.
The Cluster: The Draconian Cluster is
arranged so that the three lesser planes
surround the Great One’s home plane,
making it inaccessible from the Astral
Plane. In order to reach the Great Dragon’s plane, one must simply continue to
travel in one specific direction through
one of the lesser planes until the landscape
inevitably changes into dull waste. This is
difficult to do from the Sun Dragon’s plane
of evertwisting tunnels, but on Pearl’s or
Diamonds planes it is marginally easier.
There is no set border between the lesser
planes and the greater one.
Magic (both clerical and magic-user)
functions strangely in the Draconian Cluster. On the lesser planes, magic of the first
level does not function at all, probably
because these planes are so ancient that
they repel such weak enchantments. The
same is true for second- and third-level
clerical spells and second-, third-, and
fourth-level magic-user spells on the Great
One’s plane. Also, any magic that changes
the nature of an area, such as earthquake
12 JUNE 1990
or summon weather simply will not work
in the Cluster, as the enchantments that
created these planes are too powerful to
be so altered.
All of the dragon rulers have treasure,
of course. These vast hoards of gold and
magical items are kept in extremely safe
locations, guarded almost as carefully as
the rulers themselves by traps and dragon
spirits. Should greedy adventurers somehow steal this treasure, they will find
themselves pursued to the ends of the
Multiverse, especially if the treasure was
stolen from the covetous Moon Dragon.
But even dragons die
In their might and glory, even the
mighty dragon rulers sometimes fall victim
to some party of adventurers or Immortals. In such a rare occasion, some sages
have compiled what they know to form a
theory about what the dragons do when
their leaders die. Of course, much of this
theory is based on speculation, but some
are beginning to believe that the rulers are
not offspring of the Great One, but were
once average dragons themselves!
From what has been seen and heard
following the alleged death of the Sun
Dragon several centuries ago, it is said
that thousands of neutral dragons fought
in the presence of the Great One for Opal’s
position. Supposedly these battles lasted
for an entire year, but they were subduing
battles, so that no candidate was killed. It
is true that the sightings of neutral dragons were decreased that year, but this
could well be luck or coincidence. After
this time, sages believe a new Sun Dragon
was chosen, though nothing is known
about how the winner of the contests was
given the power of his predecessor.
A similar circumstance was recorded in
ancient scrolls of nearly 2,000 years ago.
This time, however, it was the Moon Dragon’s position that was fought for. The
scrolls say that the former Moon Dragon
had not died, but had lost favor with the
Great One or had somehow forfeited its
position, which seems to suggest that the
Great One has something to do with the
vesting of power in prospective dragon
rulers.
In an even more unclear story, handed
down for centuries by certain Alphatian
sages and hinted at in the writings of the
dracologists of Glantri, the Great Dragon
himself was killed in some sort of dispute
with Immortals of Entropy. It is said that
the three dragon rulers competed for the
Great One’s position during this time.
While there was no Great Dragon, there
was no order on the planes of the dragons; open war raged across the Draconian
Cluster for a century, with the only rule
being that the survivor would win. In the
end, no one knows which of the dragons
actually became the new Great One, but
some of the most ancient Immortals say
that there was a ceremony near the Dimensional Vortex for the winner. In this
little-known meeting, draedens were also
said to have attended. However, even the
Immortals know nothing more of this
ceremony, except that the Great Dragon
never showed any alignment tendencies
after coming to power, so that whatever
goes on during the ceremony must somehow affect the dragon ruler’s mind.
Campaign
involvement
Entire campaigns may be created using
the information given here. It is up to the
individual DM to flesh out the specifics of
each dragon ruler’s culture and personality, as well as its plans and goals (and how
the characters fit in).
The best way to get a group of players
interested in a campaign is to involve them
in a large-scale struggle from the game’s
beginning. A 1st-level party may stumble
into a dragon ruler’s plans in their first
adventure, unwittingly committing themselves to an action-filled campaign in
which they could easily remain embroiled
until they reach Immortality.
The dragon rulers themselves rarely go
forth from their planes, as it is generally
against their code of ethics. The Moon
Dragon is the most likely ruler to involve
itself in world affairs. But the rulers may
leave their planes on occasion, sometimes
to seek help from powerful characters or
Immortals against some enemy to dragonkind. Conflict is not permitted against
another dragon ruler, for the Great One
prohibits open fighting among them (unless, of course, the Great One dies). The
Great Dragon himself has never been
known to leave his plane or seek help
from any being, but depending on the
nature of the threat, this could change.
The dragon rulers are especially interested in extraordinarily powerful characters. Those seeking Immortality for the
first (or second) time may find the attention of powerful beings focused on them.
The rulers may have any reason for this,
but the most likely one is that since dragons existed at the beginning of the Multiverse, they are curious about what the
“great experiment” will yield. Curiosity is,
after all, at the heart of dragons’ natures.
Adventurers may also stumble upon a
secret ceremony conducted by a dragon
ruler. Should the adventurers be so indiscrete and also be discovered, you can be
assured that some dragons will not rest
until the characters are silenced. As for
what a curious party may discover, the
inventive DM could think of any number
of secrets that dragons believe sacred (and
far too important, in the dragons’ eyes, for
insignificant humans to know about). For
example, perhaps the power that the
dragons receive when they are elevated to
ruler status comes not from the Great One
but from the magic and wealth that the
dragon itself has accumulated over the
years (hence the dragons’ desire for treasure). If the dragons sprang from the
original matter of the Multiverse, they
might gain power from earthly materials
such as gold and gems. Such information,
leaked out to a party of loud and boisterous humans, could be disastrous, to the
mysterious and awe-inspiring image that
dragons project. Everyone knows that
dragons keep treasure, but to think that
such treasure could make one a god is
another matter entirely. It would spell the
end to any kind of privacy dragons might
enjoy, as anyone who could pick up a
sword races off to slay the mighty beasts
and get a share of the dragons’ hardearned wealth, ignorantly hoping for
godhood.
Draedens, too, may appear in campaigns
involving dragons. Draedens, the ancient
kin of the dragons, appeared at the same
time as dragons (and probably from the
same source). Their constant ties with the
dragons have bewildered sages for centuries. If indeed these stories of the origins
of the dragon rulers are true, where do
the draedens fit in? Are they, as some wise
men suspect, the descendants of the beings that created the entire Multiverse?
Perhaps the dracologists of Glantri are
closer to the truth with their theory that
the draedens, having been created along
with dragons and having changed very
little if at all since then, are the eyes and
ears of their creators, observing the progress and development of the dragons. If
this is true, it would seem to indicate that
the focus of the creators’ “great experiment” concerns not only humans and
demihumans, but dragons as well!
Characters may work for or against
dragons in any campaign, but working for
dragons may prove to be the most profitable and longest-lived system. Dragons, as
the infamous hoarders of treasure, could
offer rewards greater than any king—and
would offer it without fighting the party,
too! Of course, the characters must undertake dangerous missions of the dragon’s
choosing to gain such riches. Mission
hooks involving dragons are present in
many of the Gazetteers, such as GAZ3 The
Principalities of Glantri (see the notes on
Prince Jagger on page 24, the school of
dracology on page 71, and the adventure
“Apocalypse Then” on pages 88-89).
Dragon rulers should not be statistics.
They should be vibrant parts of a challenging D&D game campaign for characters of
every level.
Dragon Spirit
Armor Class: -2 or as original form
Hit Dice: 10* *
Move: 100’ (40’)
Flying: 260’ (100’)
Attacks: 2 claws and 1 bite
Damage: See text
No. Appearing: 1-4
Save As: Fighter 10
Morale: 12
Treasure Type: Nil
Alignment: As per plane of residence
XP Value: 2,500
14 JUNE 1990
Dragon spirits are the souls of dead
dragons that have gone to the Draconian
Cluster after their demise. They are the
most common inhabitants of the planes of
the dragons and serve their rulers faithfully. Once every 10,000 years, they are
reincarnated into dragon form on one of
the Inner or Outer Planes. Usually, this
reincarnation will be into the same form
they once used (a white dragon will remain a white dragon). However, if a lesser
dragon was especially prominent in its
past life, it may be elevated to a mightier
form of the same alignment (blue to jade,
gold to ruby, etc.).
Like most Outer Planar creatures,
dragon spirits can be killed permanently
only if they are killed on their appropriate
home plane. If they are killed outside the
Draconian Cluster, they reform on their
respective planes in one to four weeks.
These spirits are fanatically loyal to their
rulers and never surrender in the service
of those rulers.
Dragon spirits are not truly undead and
so cannot be turned by clerics. However,
like undead, they are immune to sleep,
charm, and other mind-affecting spells.
These beings have transparent, incorporeal forms that can be harmed by only
magical weapons or spells. However, once
every 20 hours while on the Outer Planes,
a dragon spirit can assume its original
mortal form for one turn (see the DM’s
Guide to Immortals, page 39). At other
times, a dragon spirit may attack using its
claws and bite, draining 1-4 strength
points for each hit. When a character’s
strength reaches zero, he dies without any
transformation to undead status. In their
ghostly forms, dragon spirits all have the
same breath weapon ability: an 80’ X 40’
cone of a hazy material that has the effect
of a fear spell on all those in range.
Dragon spirits cannot be subdued, as they
consider their duty to their ruler more
important than personal honor.
After death, dragon spirits retain their
intelligence, but their memories of previous lives tend to be hazy . . . hazy, that
is, until those memories are jarred back to
life by the arrival of beings known in their
past, such as the group of adventurers
that killed them! A dragon spirit may be
quite surprised to see its former enemies,
but it holds no grudges for past misdeeds.
Indeed, a dragon that was friendly with
the characters may offer them extra information or aid. Dragon spirits are able to
speak in any tongue, a power granted
them by their rulers as necessary. Because
of their loss of memory after death, spells
they knew in life are not available to them,
so dragon spirits cannot cast spells unless
specifically enabled by their ruler. The
Great One often gives his personal bodyguards major, spell-casting powers, but the
other rulers do not do so unless absolutely
necessary, for doing so drains their magical energies.
The Voyage
Continued from page 44
centuries of fruitless wars, a great shaman
rose from the ogrish ranks. Utaba the
Shaman claimed Immortals had spoken to
him and had given him the Altar of the
Stars—a powerful relic that was to be the
salvation of the holy land. According to
the Immortals’ directives, he made the
prophecy that Nunjarese and Hatwa must
one day all become blood kindred on the
Altar of the Stars. Though his philosophy
was quite unpopular, Utaba went on
preaching for peace. A shower of Hatwa
arrows and Nunjarese boulders eventually
ended Utaba’s bright but ever-so-brief
vocation.
Soon thereafter, pestilence and, death
swept the hallowed land. Losses became
so horrendous that it was painfully obvious both races were doomed. Finally, an
elven hero reminded his people of the
shaman’s fateful prediction, and in total
desperation all attempted to follow Utaba’s
precepts. Each elf and each ogre made a
cut on his or her hand, mixing their blood
together on the holy altar. So was the
blood alliance of Nunjar and Hatwa forever sealed. Racial intermarriage was
enforced, and generations later, Nunjarese
and Hatwa were no more. Their children,
the N’djatwa, flourished and eventually
reached the Green Bay. The Altar of the
Stars remained at the site at which the
races merged, sheltered by an impressive
temple at the center of the N’djatwa capital of M’banyika.
The N’djatwa race is similar to others
used in the D&D game. To be a N’djatwa,
one needs a Strength and Intelligence of
12 minimum. Hit points are rolled on
eight-sided hit dice, according to the N’djatwa Experience Advancement table,
N’djatwa save as elves of the same level
(young and teens save as El). They have
infravision and the ability to detect secret
passages. They are not, however, immune
to ghoul paralysis, nor can they climb
trees. N’djatwa are Neutral or Chaotic, and
they can cast magic-user spells. Neutral
individuals with a Wisdom of 13 or more
can cast druidic spells in lieu of magic-user
spells (no clerical spells beyond the first
level are allowed for these druids); this
decision is irreversible and must be taken
when the character is created. Typical
adult statistics are as follows: AC 5; HD 3*;
MV 120’(40’); #AT 1 fist or weapon; Dmg
1d6 per fist or by weapon; #AP 1d12 (any);
Save E3: ML 10; AL N or C; XP 115.
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Write for a free catalog from the
Mail Order Hobby Shop, c/o TSR,
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53147 U.S.A.
Would you rather fight a dragon
or chat with it? Good choice!
A dragon should be as powerful and
fascinating as a high-level character, and
more intriguing than any other monster of
the Prime Material plane. Each dragon has
its own particular interests, and the presence of a dragon has a dramatic impact
for good or ill on a region’s defense, economy, and politics. In a well-run AD&D®
campaign, no dragon is just a fighting
machine, but all dragons should be
dangerous.
When a dragon appears, many adventurers see their only choices as being between fighting it or running from it. But in
distant Kara-Tur, a shukenja named Li PO
worked to develop a new alternative. A
pacifist who emphasized the value of
communication as a means of preventing
or resolving conflict, Li PO carefully introduced a holy spell to allow dragons and
humankind to understand one another
under all circumstances—even if the dragons being conversed with do not normally
speak. Furthermore, the spell would be
negated if it were used as a means to
strike at the dragon with which one is
talking. When used properly, this spell
should introduce a new light on roleplaying.
Speak With Dragonkind (Alteration)
Comp.: V,S
Level: 6 (priest)
CT: 7
Range: 0
ST: None
Duration: 1 turn/lvl.
Area of effect: All within 30’ of the caster
Explanation/Description: When this
spell is cast, the shukenja (or sohei or
cleric) is given a special aura that can be
detected and read by only a dragon or
dragonlike creature such as a chimera,
pseudo-dragon, firedrake, dragonne, Oriental dragon, etc. The aura allows the
dragon to determine that the caster is not
hostile and is interested only in conversation. Any number of dragons may view
the caster, and the chance that any sufficiently motivated dragon will feel impelled
to attack the caster while the spell is in
effect is only 2% per hit die of the dragon.
Even if this check is passed, the dragon
will have no wish to attack the spell-caster
if no real reason for such an attack exists.
In all other cases, the dragon may decide
to speak for one of two reasons. First, the
dragon might genuinely desire conversation. Second, any dragon who slays a spellcaster while this spell is in effect will
become known to the deity of the spellcaster; that deity will always make a point
afterward of arranging for vengeance to
be dispensed by
various adventurers,
though the success of these attempts must
be played out or determined randomly by
the DM. The knowledge of this vengeance
is made known to the dragon upon sighting the spell-caster while this spell is in
effect, and few dragons are willing to risk
a gods displeasure. The worst that a
dragon will do to the spell-caster in most
cases is merely ignore him or make
vaguely threatening gestures.
The shukenja, too, is bound by certain
considerations. This spell will not be
granted to a someone who secretly plans
to harm any dragon being addressed by
this spell. If the spell-caster or one of his
companions within the area of effect
shows hostile intent toward a dragon
while this spell is in effect, the spell is
cancelled immediately and the dragon to
whom the characters are speaking will (if
it chooses to attack) gain a +2 bonus on
all to-hit and damage rolls in combat with
those characters. The dragon will gain
initiative on its first attack even if the
characters make the first moves, as the
spell invokes a curse that gives the dragon
the upper hand for the first round of
melee. The phrase “hostile intent” includes
any action that would harm or immobilize
the dragon, as well as any attempt to spy
on the dragon’s lair prior to an attack or
theft. Wise spell-casters will avoid entering
a dragon’s lair, as the temptation of seeing
the dragon’s treasure hoard might move
the caster to contemplate a “hostile”
action—and thus invite doom.
Since this spell is actually cast upon
characters, no saving throw or magicresistance check is necessary for dragons
viewing them. The dragon operates under
its own free will and may decide to attack
the characters once the spell’s duration
expires. Dragons that speak with characters using this spell are not obliged to be
truthful or helpful, nor are they compelled
to reveal their secrets. However, even evil
dragons are more inclined to bend or
shade the truth rather than to lie, as this
may prove to be far more effective a tactic
in certain situations (e.g., if asked for
information on a nearby orc tribe, a red
dragon might disguise the fact that the
orcs give him treasure and sacrifices, and
might offer misleading information as to
its location and the composition of its
forces). Divination spells can be used in
conjunction with this spell to strengthen
one’s bargaining position.
DRAGON 19
Two almost-but-not-quite dragons
Gorynych
by Spike Y. Jones
CLIMATE/TERRAIN: Temperature mountains,
any subterranean area
FREQUENCY: Very rare
ORGANIZATION: Solitary
ACTIVITY CYCLE: Any
DIET: Carnivorous
INTELLIGENCE: Average
TREASURE: H
ALIGNMENT: Chaotic evil
NO. APPEARING: 1
ARMOR CLASS: 4
MOVEMENT: 9, 18 fly (E)
HIT DICE: 9
THAC0: 11
NO. OF ATTACKS: 5
DAMAGE/ATTACK: 1-8/1-8/1-12/1-12/1-12
SPECIAL ATTACKS: Tail capture,
“wishboning”
SPECIAL DEFENSES: Difficult to surprise
MAGIC RESISTANCE: Nil
SIZE: G (50’ including tails)
XP VALUE: 6,000
While it has all the hallmarks of dragonkind, the gorynych is unlikely to ever be
mistaken for a true dragon if seen in good
light; it is more likely to be seen as a
dragon gone to extremes of evolution and
diversification. The gorynych has a long
and supple body covered with tiny bluegreen scales, and giant dragonlike wings
with scales so fine they almost make a
feathered pattern on the leathery surfaces. ‘Iwo other features differentiate
them from true dragons: They have three
wolfish heads, each on its own serpentine
neck, and a multitude of tails, starting as
three thick ones at the base of the spine
but eventually dividing out to as many as
12 whip-thin tails.
Combat: Although gorynyches have no
breath weapon, they are fearsome fighters
nonetheless. Whether in flight or on the
ground, their attack methods are the
same. Each first whips its flexible tails
about in an attempt to entangle its opponents, each tail striking as a separate attack. Then it uses normal clawing and
biting attacks on the entrapped foes. The
tail strikes do no damage in themselves,
but for every tail that holds a man-size
victim (smaller creatures are usually ignored, as they would be so engulfed by
even a single tail that the gorynych could
not bite them without fear of biting itself),
the gorynych gets a cumulative + 1 to hit
on all attacks made against that victim.
Thus, if it wraps two tails around a fighter
in the first round of combat, the gorynych
can claw and bite at + 2 to hit that round,
and—if the fighter does not manage to
eliminate or escape the two tails holding
him—it can wrap more tails around him at
+2 to hit in the next round. Each tail
takes 2-12 hp damage before being severed, with none of these hit points being
counted in the monster’s hit-point total;
even if rendered tail-less, there is a good
chance that a gorynych will continue to
fight if victory appears close. When first
caught in one of these tail coils, the victim
has a 10% chance of being held in such an
awkward position that he won’t be able to
attack the gorynych (and this increases to
25% on the rare occasions when a smallerthan-man-size creature is attacked).
Another attack form unique to the gorynych is called “wishboning” by those who
witness it from a distance. If the beast
scores hits on a single opponent with at
least two of its heads in a round, it will try
to rip the victim in half between them,
scoring an automatic 2-12 hp damage on
that round. It does not do this automatically in every round after this first, as it
must release its bites each round to get a
new grip (and make a new series of attack
rolls), but this doesn’t present much difficulty if the victim is still held by its tails.
Unlike some monsters with multiple
heads, the gorynych cannot be defeated
by setting up arguments between the
different brains of its body. It has only one
personality divided between its three
brains, and each of these brains is fully
capable of handling the operations of the
entire body on its own. Thus, cutting off
two of the heads will not disable its thinking or the control of its movements in any
way. Because of this single mind in multiple heads, it cannot ‘take turns resting
heads, leaving one alert at all times; when
it sleeps, all heads sleep. But with six
dragon-sharp ears to hear with, the gorynych is difficult to surprise, even when
asleep, and gets + 2 on all surprise rolls. In
addition, while it has more than one head,
it cannot be attacked from behind, as it
peers in all directions, even when the only
apparent threats are to the front.
Habitat/Society: The gorynych is a
mountain-dwelling creature, preferring
windy and desolate regions to the more
thickly populated tracts of true dragons.
They live in deep caverns within the
rocks; the long, winding tunnels to their
lairs are full of evidence of their
presence—scales scrapped off on the
rocks, claw marks on all surfaces, the
occasional coin or gem dropped from their
mouths when stocking their hoards, and
the rare bone that misses the periodic
cleaning of the refuse in their homes.
While they avoid areas where human
incursions are frequent, they are intelligent enough to take note of any roadways,
caravan paths and isolated settlements
within a few hours flight of their caves so
that they have little trouble finding food
and treasure. They reproduce by laying
eggs, but the young are forced out into the
world as quickly as possible after hatching. The young grow rapidly, attaining full
growth in nine years and living for about
400 years total.
The gorynych is not well versed in
speech and has no language of its own. If
there is a race that is dominant in the
regions around its lair, it will have a slight
understanding of this race’s tongue, no
matter what it is, but that is the extent of
DRAGON 21
the beast’s linguistic knowledge. If its lair
is in an empty tract of land, it will have no
language at all, as there would be no creatures to converse with and it doesn’t talk
to itself.
Ecology: Gorynyches are usually the
most powerful carnivores in their local
food chain. They rarely interact with any
other species, intelligent or not. However,
they are often attacked by other highly
competitive and magically powerful monsters such as dragons and beholders.
Common dragonet
by Steve Fetsch
CLIMATE/TERRAIN: Temperate wilderness
FREQUENCY: Rare
ORGANIZATION: Group
ACTIVITY CYCLE: Any
DIET: Carnivorous
INTELLIGENCE: Animal
TREASURE: C
ALIGNMENT: Neutral
NO. APPEARING: 2-20
ARMOR CLASS: 4
MOVEMENT: 22, 24 fly (C)
HIT DICE: 3 +3
THAC0: 17
NO. OF ATTACKS: 3
DAMAGE/ATTACK: 1-4/1-4/1-6
SPECIAL ATTACKS: Limited breath
weapon
22 JUNE 1990
SPECIAL DEFENSES: Immune to acid
MAGIC RESISTANCE: Nil
SIZE: M (6’ long)
MORALE: Average (9)
XP VALUE: 420
Those who reject the notion that Tiamat
originally spawned evil dragonkind usually
regard the common dragonet as the ancestral species of all dragons—good, evil,
Oriental, and so on. The common dragonet
once roamed the skies in vast flocks (they
were truly common then), but hunters
and more aggressive creatures have made
them scarce. The female of the species is
dull green in color, whereas the male is
reddish brown, frequently with orange
patches. Common dragonets have the
same body form as regular dragons: a long
neck and tail, two wings, four legs, and a
serpentine body.
Combat: Common dragonets are fairly
aggressive but rarely attack creatures
larger than man size. However, they fight
fiercely if they or their nests are threatened. Their preferred mode of attack is to
spit a corrosive and flammable saliva—an
evolutionary prelude to the better-known
breath weapons. They may spit in combat
for two rounds in a row, then once every
four rounds thereafter for a total of 5-8
attacks each per day. Only one victim at a
time may be so attacked.
To determine the effectiveness of a com-
mon dragonet’s spitting attack, make a tohit roll for it as for a normal attack (out to
a 30’ range). Note whether or not the
attack roll would have hit the victim if the
victim had not been using a shield by
checking against the shield-using and
shieldless armor-class values of the victim.
If the shield deflected the attack, the
shield must then make a saving throw vs.
acid or else be destroyed (magical bonuses
apply). If no shield deflects an attack that
hits a victim, the victim’s armor and equipment must save vs. acid or be destroyed
(magical bonuses apply); the victim himself
takes 2-20 hp damage. The victim must
make a saving throw vs. dragon breath to
avoid permanent blindness from the attack. The saliva is also flammable, and any
character who is carrying a flame source
and is struck by the saliva has a 50%
chance of having the flame ignite the
saliva, which explodes for 1-8 hp damage
to all within a 5’ radius of the flame.
The saliva may be neutralized by using
either a scroll of protection from acid or
protection from dragon breath. Use of a
great helm offers a +4 on saving throws
to prevent blindness. Equipment carried in
a container must save vs. acid only if the
container itself fails its saving throw (at
which point it falls apart).
Habitat/Society: Common dragonets
seem to be at ease in many sorts of temperate environments, including hills,
swamps, forests, and plains. They live to
be 200 years at most, reproducing by
laying eggs. Egg laying occurs once every
decade for female dragonets, with 2-5 eggs
being laid. Few of these eggs hatch, however (see “Ecology”). A group of dragonets
will fiercely defend their lairs and will aid
other dragonets, but they are not capable
of elaborate planning.
Ecology: The hide of the common
dragonet can be made into corrosionresistant leather armor. This leather is
difficult to work, so the leatherworker
must make a proficiency check with a -3
modifier. The hides of two common dragonets must be used to make enough
armor for a adult human (the hide from
one is enough for a being of 4’ height or
less). This armor gives the wearer a +4
saving throw vs. all acidic attacks, and it
can be dyed in any color or pattern.
It is possible but difficult to gather the
common dragonet’s saliva. The amount of
saliva from one spitting attack is enough to
fill four half-pint vials. A direct hit from
one of these vials does 1-6 hp acidic damage; the application of flame will cause an
explosion for 1-4 hp damage to all within a
3’ radius.
Common dragonets are no longer common, as their eggs are preyed upon so
heavily by assorted creatures of the wild.
The parents are easily distracted from
their nests to chase off intruders, leaving
the nests open to birds, rodents, and other
assorted beasts.
More neutral dragons for your AD&D® campaign
by Aaron McGruder
Arthur Collins has the credit for the
original concept of neutral dragons, which
first appeared in issue #37 of DRAGON®
Magazine. His article opened our eyes to a
whole new family of dragons and its
world. Since there are more gems left for
dragon names and since AD&D® game
players love dragons of every sort, this
article presents three new neutral dragons
to supplement the original article (which
can also be found in “That’s not in the
Monster Manual!” in the Best of DRAGON
Magazine anthology vol. III).
Neutral dragons are basically reclusive
creatures, preferring remote lairs, and are
not very hospitable to unexpected visitors.
Like all dragons, they have a passion for
treasure, especially the precious and semiprecious stones for which they are named.
They are generally smaller and slower
than other dragons but compensate for
this with their superior spell-casting capabilities and overwhelming personalities.
A neutral dragon’s charisma can have a
powerful effect on those who can hear his
voice. Using riddling talk and his personal
charm, the neutral dragon can actually
entrance those not engaged in combat or
similar actions. Anyone who listens to
such a dragon’s voice has a 10% cumula24 JUNE 1990
tive chance per round of being entranced
to the point where he is under the effect
of a suggestion spell. The victim is allowed
a saving throw vs. spells, success indicating that the trance has been broken for at
least six rounds, after which the dragon
can try again, this time with only a 5%
cumulative chance per round of success. If
the dragon fails the second attempt, he
cannot try again on the same victim. The
dragon can affect as many people as he
wishes at one time within a 90’ range.
Because of its small size, the fear aura of
a neutral dragon is saved against at +4 for
all opponents. Neutral dragons cannot
polymorph themselves unless they have
that spell. They do, however, have the
innate ability to blink six times per day, as
the spell, plus the ability to communicate
telepathically with any other telepathic
creature or being with an 18 + intelligence. Spell-casting neutral dragons can
use both wizard and priest spells.
If psionics are used in the campaign,
each neutral dragon has a 50% chance of
being psionic. Using the AD&D 1st Edition
Players Handbook system, the following
scores should be used for the dragons in
this article: pearl dragons have a psionic
ability of 110 with attack/defense modes
A,D/F,H; jade dragons have a psionic ability
of 190 with attack/defense modes A,C/F,I;
and jacinth dragons have a psionic ability
of 225 with attack/defense modes A,C,D/
F,I. Pearl dragons have three minor disciplines; jade dragons have two minors and
one major; and jacinth dragons have three
minors and two majors.
Because their powers vary according toage level, experience-point values for each
type of dragon also vary according to age
level. Relevant factors for determining the
experience-point values (according to the
2nd Edition Dungeon Master’s Guide)
include: armor class 0 or lower ( + 1 hit-die
modifier); breath weapon ( +2); flight ( + 1);
four or more attacks per round ( + 1); high
intelligence ( + 1); low-level spell use ( + 1);
high-level spell use ( + 2); magic resistance
( +2); multiple attacks causing 30 + hp
damage ( + 2); single attack causing 20 +
hp damage ( + 2); special magical attack
forms, including the fear aura and psionics, if used ( + 2 each); and special magical defense forms, including immunity to
normal missiles and saving-throw adjustments equating hit dice to fighters’ levels
( + 1 each).
Artwork by Thomas Baxa
Pearl dragons
CLIMATE/TERRAIN: Rocky coastlines,
cliffs
FREQUENCY: Very rare
ORGANIZATION: Solitary or clan
ACTIVITY CYCLE: Any
DIET: Carnivore
INTELLIGENCE: Exceptional (16)
TREASURE: See Table 1
ALIGNMENT: Neutral
NO. APPEARING: 1-3
ARMOR CLASS: 2 (base)
MOVEMENT: 9, Fl 18 (C), SW 12
HIT DICE: 6 (base)
THAC0: 15 (base)
NO. OF ATTACKS: 3 + special
DAMAGE/ATTACK: 2-5/2-5/3-18
SPECIAL ATTACKS: Special
SPECIAL DEFENSES: Special
MAGIC RESISTANCE: Variable
SIZE: H (14’ base)
MORALE: Fanatic (16 base)
XP VALUE: Variable
Pearl dragons tend to reside either on
steep, rocky coastlines or along sandy
beaches, as long as they are near the water. They have a deep love of the salt air
and the open expanse of the sea. As a
result of their location, their diet consists
mainly of sharks and fish, with an occasional hundred lobsters or a small whale
as a treat.
Because pearls are the most abundant
form of treasure in the sea, it is not surprising that pearl dragons, when not
searching for food, spend most of the day
pearl hunting. Over the centuries, this
species has developed powerful lungs
exclusively for this purpose, and a pearl
dragon can stay under water for up to an
hour without surfacing for air For this
reason, a pearl dragon hoard can contain
up to 5,000 gp in pearls for every age level
the dragon has (these pearls are in addition to his normal treasure type) Pearl
dragons are somewhat nomadic, leaving
one place for another once the food or
pearl supply has run low The moving
process is very slow, because the dragon
will refuse to leave a single object behind
in his previous lair, making many journeys
back and forth
Like all neutral dragons, pearl dragons
remain at a safe distance from human civilization. They rarely attack sailing vessels,
though they have been known to attack
bothersome pirate ships and take whatever
treasure they can find from them,
Pearl dragons can breathe a cloud of
scalding steam once every three rounds,
measuring 90’ long by 30’ wide by 20’ high.
Pearl dragons are attacked by dragon turtles
whenever possible The hide of a pearl
dragon is extremely beautiful and can be
sold for as much as 60,000 gp.
Jade dragons
CLIMATE/TERRAIN: Sylvan forests in
Kara-Tur
FREQUENCY: Very rare
ORGANIZATION: Solitary or clan
ACTIVITY CYCLE: Any
DIET: Omnivore
INTELLIGENCE: Genius (17)
TREASURE: See Table 2
ALIGNMENT: Neutral
NO APPEARING: 1-3
ARMOR CLASS: 0 (base)
MOVEMENT: 9, Fl 24 (B)
HIT DICE: 7 (base)
THAC0: 13 (base)
NO. OF ATTACKS: 3 + special
DAMAGE/ATTACK: 1-6/1-6/5-20
SPECIAL ATTACKS: Special
SPECIAL DEFENSES: Special
DRAGON
25
MAGIC RESISTANCE: Variable
SIZE: H (18’ base)
MORALE: Fanatic (16 base)
XP VALUE: Variable
The jade dragon is the Oriental cousin to
the emerald dragon of the western world.
This dragon is usually considered mythical
by humans and is sought after by only a
few adventurous thrill seekers. Slightly
more powerful than its western cousin
this creature looks the same as other
Oriental dragons except that it does have
wings with which to fly. Jade dragons
make their lairs in the dense, remote
forests of Kara-Tur and are avid collectors
of rare woods. They live entirely on forest
vegetation and animal life, and will not eat
humans.
A jade dragon is able to breathe a powerful sonic wail. All those within a 90’
radius take damage and must save vs.
breath weapons or be deafened for 10-60
rounds. Even if the save is successful, the
Jacinth dragons
CLIMATE/TERRAIN: Deserts
FREQUENCY: Very rare
ORGANIZATION: Solitary
ACTIVITY CYCLE: Any
DIET: Special
INTELLIGENCE: Genius (18)
TREASURE: See Table 3
ALIGNMENT: Neutral
NO. APPEARING: 1
ARMOR CLASS: 1 (base)
MOVEMENT: 9, FL 27 (B)
26 JUNE 1990
HIT DICE: 9 (base)
THAC0: 13 (base)
NO. OF ATTACKS: 3 + special
DAMAGE/ATTACK: 2-7/2-7/4-24
SPECIAL ATTACKS: Special
SPECIAL DEFENSES: Special
MAGIC RESISTANCE: Variable
SIZE: H (16’ base)
MORALE: Fanatic (16 base)
XP VALUE: Variable
victim is deafened for 2-12 rounds. In
addition, all victims must make a systemshock check in order to avoid being
knocked unconscious for 5-20 rounds.
The hide of a jade dragon is made up of
several different shades of green, swirled
about in a random pattern. No jade dragon
hide has ever been sold, so its value is
unknown. The few jade dragons that have
been seen were reported to be exquisitely
beautiful, and there are many who would
pay great sums to acquire such a hide.
Jacinth dragons are the rarest of any
nonunique dragon species. On the average, only a dozen jacinth dragons at most
exist on any given world. Jacinth dragons
make their homes in the centers of large
deserts, enjoying the hot, dry climate.
Over the years, this species has developed
the ability to go for weeks without water
or food. They shun all other forms of life
and enjoy their solitude, though they can
at times be overly curious of visitors. They
do venture out now and then to obtain
what little treasure they do have, and it is
by these excursions that their existence is
known to humans.
A jacinth dragon can breathe a cone of
scalding air raising the temperature in the
area of affect (a 50’ long cone with a 20’
base) to the point where easily combustable materials (paper, oil, and cloth) must
save vs. normal fire or burst into flame. A
successful save vs. breath weapons indicates, as with all such dragons, that only
half damage is taken.
The hide of a jacinth dragon sparkles
and shifts in the light, with its many
shades of flame-bright orange in seemingly
constant motion. The jacinth dragon has
the innate ability to interplay these shades
so as to have a hypnotic effect on the
viewer, Thus, after three rounds of a
peaceful encounter, the dragon can attack
with a + 3 bonus to surprise if necessary
In addition, the hide reflects sunlight so
brightly that any creature who gazes upon
the dragon on a particularly sunny day for
more than two rounds will be blinded for
5-30 rounds if the victim fails a save vs.
spells. No jacinth dragon hides have ever
been taken or sold.
Table 1
Pearl Dragon Statistics
Age
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
Body lgt.(ft.)
1-4
4-8
8-12
12-16
16-20
20-24
24-28
28-32
32-36
36-40
40-44
44-48
Tail lgt.(ft.) AC
1-3
5
3-6
4
3
6-9
2
9-12
12-15
1
15-18
0
18-21
-1
21-24
-2
24-28
-3
28-31
-4
-5
31-34
-6
34-38
Breath weapon
1d4+1
2d4+2
3d4+3
4d4+4
5d4+5
6d4+6
7d4+7
8d4+8
9d4+9
10d4+10
11d4+11
12d4+12
Spells (wizard/priest)
nil
nil
nil
2/1
2 2/2 1
2 2 2/2 2
2 2 2 2/2 2 1
22222/222
222222/2221
2222222/2222
3322222/22221
3333222/22222
MR
nil
nil
nil
5%
10%
15%
20%
25%
30%
35%
40%
45%
Treasure type
nil
nil
nil
E
H
H, U*
H, U x 2*
H, U x 2*
H, U x 2*
H, U x 3*
H,Ux4*
H,Ux4*
Breath weapon
1d6+1
2d6+2
3d6+3
4d6+4
5d6+5
6d6+6
7d6+7
8d6+8
9d6+9
10d6+10
11d6+11
12d6+12
Spells (wizard/priest)
nil
nil
2/1
2 2/2
2 2 2/2 1
2 2 2 2/2 2
22222/221
222222/222
2222222/2221
3322222/2222
3333222/22221
3333332/22222
MR
nil
nil
nil
5%
10%
15%
20%
25%
30%
35%
45%
55%
Treasure type
nil
nil
D
E
H
H, I
H, I
H,Ix2
H,Ix2
H, I x 2, R
H, I x 2, R
H, I x 2, R, U
* All gems in treasure type U are actually pearls.
Table 2
Jade Dragon Statistics
Age
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
Body lgt.(ft.) Tail lgt.(ft.) AC
2-5
1-4
3
5-10
2
4-8
10-15
1
8-12
12-16
15-20
0
20-25
16-20
-1
25-30
20-24
-2
30-35
24-28
-3
-4
35-40
28-32
40-45
32-36
-4
45-50
36-40
-5
50-55
40-44
-6
55-60
44-48
-7
Table 3
Jacinth Dragon Statistics
Age
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
Body lgt.(ft.) Tail lgt.(ft.)
1-4
1-4
4-8
4-7
8-14
7-10
14-18
10-13
18-20
13-16
20-22
16-19
22-26
19-22
26-28
22-25
28-30
25-28
30-32
28-31
32-34
31-34
34-36
34-37
AC
4
3
2
1
0
-1
-2
-3
-4
-5
-6
-7
Breath weapon
2d4
3d4
4d4
5d4
6d4
7d4
8d4
9d4
10d4
11d4
12d4
13d4
Spells (wizard/priest)
nil
2/1
2 2/2
2 2 2/2 1
2 2 2 2/2 2
22222/221
222222/222
2222222/2221
3322222/2222
3333222/22221
3333332/22222
4433332/33322
MR
nil
nil
nil
nil
15%
20%
25%
30%
35%
40%
45%
50%
Treasure type
nil
nil
nil
E, T
H, R, T
H, R, T x 2
H, R, T x 2
H,I,R,Tx3
H, I, R, Tx4
H,Ix2,R,Tx4
H, I x 2, R, T X 4
H, I X 3, R, T X 5
DRAGON
27
Forum
Continued from page 6
art, but without the details and rules available
from Fox-Davies; von Volborth, in fact, emphasized
“art” over “heraldry.”
In a way, I was surprised at not finding FoxDavies listed in the original article. I was under
the impression that his Complete Guide was
practically the textbook for heraldry.
Table 2 of the article requires some clarification. While the metals argent and or do translate to silver and gold, they are commonly
rendered as white and yellow! The furs are
better described in the text, the table being
highly misleading. Ermine, to be properly described, consists of black ermine tails on a white
field (the shape of the tail spots varies with
period and artistic taste; also, the field is white,
not silver). Vair consists of alternating patches of
blue and white. To the tinctures I would add
proper, which is the term used to indicate
natural coloration—and about the only way to
get the color brown into a device (a bear
proper. . .).
Mr. Kane’s article leaves the impression that
only nobles were authorized to use arms. It
should be pointed out that heraldic devices (as
opposed to grants-of-arms) were used in other
areas. Inn and guildhall signs were quite often
heraldic devices; when few can read, pictures
are often useful identification marks. A shovel
and pickax crossed in saltire could easily represent the local mining guild, while a loaf of bread
would identify a baker. (I do wonder, though,
how the blazon for the Vulgar Unicorn [of the
Sanctuary fantasy series] would read.) A further
source of heraldic devices would be the church.
Clerics might be granted arms by the upper
hierarchy of their church.
This last possibility brings up the subject of
heraldic jurisdictions. For purposes of example,
let us visualize a medium-size island kingdom, a
kingdom located on a continent with coastal
access to the island, and a religious hierarchy
common to both. It is possible, though perhaps
unlikely, that the same device could be granted
to a noble of the island (by that kingdom’s
college of arms), a knight of the continental
kingdom (again, by a local college of arms), and
to a high priest of the church (by the church’s
college of arms). All three bear legally granted
arms! Yet a conflict could ensue should all three
meet on a battlefield or at a tournament.
More likely, the church would examine the
books of the two kingdoms in an attempt to
avoid a conflict before granting a device. Better,
the church may actually attempt to register the
device with the colleges of both kingdoms,
avoiding the possibility of a conflict should the
priest be reassigned.
Dennis Lee Bieber
Sunnyvale CA
When I wrote “The Goals of the Gods” (issue
#153) I hadn’t yet been exposed to the AD&D
game and its alignment system. Since then. I’ve
learned that the AD&D system is intelligent and
attractive, and it offers a good basis for roleplaying.
Unfortunately, the system isn’t always played
as well as it was designed. This is why an article
such as Tom Littles “Your Place in the Grand
Scheme” (issue #153) is so valuable. With the
play of alignments in a campaign too often
misunderstood, extended guidelines such as
Tom’s are vital.
This is why I’d like to plead for more extended
guidelines on alignment—an article or column’s
worth. No, I’m not offering myself as the author
28 JUNE 1990
of the piece. This will require someone who has
more experience in AD&D games than I do. But
I will tell you what I’d like to see: Specific examples of what the alignments mean in a practical
sense. Specific, because ethics (which is what
we mean when we say “alignment”) are no use
to role-players on a theoretical level. We need to
know exactly what’s expected of a given alignment in a typical situation. Not long ago, in a
back issue of DRAGON Magazine [issue #51], I
read Roger Moore’s account of an adventure in
which a paladin first saved a dryad, then
punched her in the nose when she tried to
ensnare one of his companions. The DM penalized him for such a seemingly chaotic act, then
later decided that he shouldn’t have, and gave a
very well-reasoned account of why. This is the
sort of thing I’m talking about: specific instances
in ancedotal form of how different alignments
should and should not act, and the reasons
behind the judgments.
After all, a lot of us, particularly those who
are just coming into gaming, tend to be confused about how alignment affects play—for
good reason, I think. Let’s face it, in most circumstances an RPG campaign requires a modern person (with all the baggage of modern
ethics and morality, such as it may or may not
be understood) to pretend to be a premodern
person (with a different load of ethics and
morality). The two can easily conflict.
For example, in the modern world we abhor
the institution of slavery—and rightly so. In the
best of circumstances, it’s an evil thing. Under
the worst of circumstances, it’s evil squared and
cubed. But in this you hear a modern person
talking, a person brought up on a tradition of
personal freedom and ethical responsibility. I
can look back on ancient and medieval history
and say that some people, free men and citizens,
were “ahead of their time” when they preached
that every man should be free. But even in that
statement, it’s a modern man talking. For in the
context of time, most men believed in slavery,
believed it was a necessary institution, believed
that it was sanctioned by the gods, and indeed,
in some cases, believed that the gods had created certain people to be slaves! Often, the men
who believed these things were considered not
only to be lawful, but good—while a slave who
rebelled against the system was considered to
be both chaotic and evil. (To mix metaphors, we
make a hero of Spartacus, but any medieval
paladin who refused to destroy him would have
been roundly condemned.)
A peripheral issue? Perhaps, since slavery ‘isn’t
prominent in most RPGs. But it serves to illustrate the point. (And didn’t the Monster Manual
I explain how to subdue and enslave dragons—
beings often having greater intelligence and
wisdom than humans? But, of course, the evil
dragons deserve to be enslaved. . . .)
More specifically, what about the Crusades?
While I consider them interesting from a military standpoint, and great fun to read about as
a student of history, from a moral viewpoint the
waste of life was tragic and the unwarranted
intrusion into Middle Eastern affairs was legally
indefensible. But, again, that’s a modern man
talking. From a medieval Christian viewpoint,
the crusades were a vital element of Christianity
(just as the Moslems considered the jihads to be
a vital part of Islam), and the loss of life was
irrelevant since it served a higher purpose. In
an age of predators, might was expected to
make right, and any Frankish knight who argued that he has no “right” to attack Moslems
would have been branded a coward. A lawfulgood paladin would not only be categorically
absolved for taking part in a crusade, it would
be considered his duty to do so! The Templars
and Hospitalers, sworn to religious virtues,
were heroes of Christendom, whatever we may
think of them in the modern world.
The Moslems held similar attitudes, and their
saints actively preached religious war (as did
Saint Bernard in Europe, badgering and hounding secular rulers until they took the oath to
“win back the holy land”). It’s only when a
Saladin or a Francis of Assisi appears that we
begin to see an injection of modern ethics—and
Saladin fought and clawed his way to the top in
the most approved feudal style. Did Richard the
Lionhearted slaughter 2,500 Moslem prisoners
before the walls of captured Acre, just because
their ransom was overdue? Saladin massacred a
regiment of black Africans in Cairo—with their
women and children—to prevent them from
jeopardizing his control of Egypt. Contemporaries didn’t bat an eye over either action. Even
today, Saladin is spoken of in the Moslem world
as a gentlemen. If asked, the average Westerner
would probably class Richard I Plantagenet
(who nearly taxed his kingdom into ruin in
order to make his crusading adventure more
splendid, and callously left his wicked brother
Prince John in control of England while he went
crusading) as something approximate to the
AD&D game’s “lawful good.”
To cap it all, St. Louis (King Louis IX of France)
took part in not one but two crusades, dying in
the second. His government was just and generous; he made an excellent revision of judicial
standards within his realm, considered the royal
authority (bestowed upon him by God) to be
beyond infringement, sent 10,000 livres to his
erstwhile Moslem captors when they accepted a
deficient ransom payment, and treated the Jews
of France abominably (a fault any contemporary
Christian would happily have forgiven). A
“lawful good” man? I doubt you’ll find any
secular ruler in all premodern history who
more deserves the title. I also doubt you’ll find
any modern liberal who would grant it to him.
I hope I’m not being too wordy in getting my
point across: Modern ethics are different from
premodern ethics; premoderns expected different things from lawfulness and goodness (and
from chaos and evil) than we do. If we’re going
to dress up modern role-players in premodern
clothes without expecting them to adopt premodern attitudes (which I personally would
strenuously oppose), we have to give them
specific examples of alignment from which to
operate.
I’m rather disappointed that the “neutral”
alignment is so consistently portrayed as sort of,,
“wishy washy.” In my opinion, the neutral-good
character—recognizing as he does that sometimes law is the enemy of justice and sometimes
its friend—is the most admirable of all. I could
hope that you’ll give some attention to the idea
of neutrality being “flexibility” rather than
“indecisiveness.”
Craig H. Barrett
Canon City CO
It seems as if this war between good and evil
is never going to end. I’m sick of other people
telling DMs how to run their campaigns. If a DM
wants to have an all-evil, all-good, or even allneutral campaign, then so be it! If a DM wants
to have a mixed campaign, that’s even better! It
is a DM’s choice if he wants to use evil characters. DMs shouldn’t be told how to run their
campaign, what to allow and what not to allow.
This is what makes a campaign unique. Campaigns should be unique, not universal.
Sure, evil characters can be disruptive, but
that’s not the way it has to be. Occasional squab-
bles can even enhance game play and roleplaying (provided they are not hindering the
enjoyment of others). Who lets whom ride off
on his high horse? Sometimes giving evil characters what they want will keep them satisfied.
However, if dissention is chronic, an alignment
change is in order. There are several ways to go
about this. You may plant a helm of opposite
alignment for the offending character to find.
Or you may lure the character into a situation
where his actions would change his alignment
(e.g., a lawful-evil PC helping other people
instead of himself would make his alignment
lawful-good if done often enough). A chaotic-evil
PC could perhaps have some genetic “kind
streaks,” making the PC chaotic good. Or you
may simply force the player into changing his
character’s alignment.
Encourage players to use any alignment they
want. Players also resent being told what they
can or can’t have. Alignment is payable as long
as it is used correctly and this use doesn’t ruin
play for others. There is no right or wrong
alignment; no one alignment is more enjoyable
than another.
In issue #151, a letter from Toby Myers appeared in “Forum.” This letter stated that neutral good is totally good, more so than lawful
good, because it doesn’t care about law or
chaos, only good. He stated the same for neutral
evil. This is not so. A neutral character maintains the balance between law and chaos. If, as
Mr. Myers implies, a neutral character doesn’t
care about one or the other, he couldn’t maintain that delicate balance. A neutral character
will side with a lawful force if a chaotic force is
becoming too powerful, and vice versa. The
only reason a neutral-good character is good is
because he believes that “since the universe is
vast and contains many creatures . . . a determined pursuit of good will not upset the balance” [2nd Edition Player’s Handbook, page 47].
This is not “not caring!” A neutral-evil character
cares only about himself and doesn’t bother
with others. A chaotic-evil character will abuse
lesser folk until they follow him. The same
neutral-evil character would have left them in
peace. Now, who’s more evil?
Toby C. Jennings
King City CA
adventure—if the PCs take the bait. Don’t let
your mind be closed to modules from other
systems; they can usually be adapted with much
less trouble than many people think, and can be
a good deal of fun.
For example: A 10th-level party is entering
your new AD&D 2nd Edition campaign. Start
off with WG5 Mordenkainen’s Fantastic Adventure, a fast-paced, quick-to-start adventure.
Beyond the “unopenable” doors place the “Treasure Vault of Kasil,” a DUNGEON® Adventures
module [from issue 13], in place of some of your
first adventure. Decide that one of the pits in
the Vault is the pit that leads to EX1 Dungeonland. The escape from Dungeonland by the little
boat at the end of the module could lead to any
number of waterborne adventures, including
some of your own. And the characters are still
just trying to get back to their homes after
departing for Castle Maure in WG5.
Or say you have a wonderful module, but it is
a couple of levels too high for the PCs to survive. Send them through it anyway, so that
they’ll get enough out of it to enjoy it, and when
they die, have them wake up 130 years later,
raised by a priest who wants to find out more
about the past, but who dies a minute later
from an unknown cause. They then see a green
light in the distance, head for it, you send them
through the skeleton lair from The Book of
Lairs (just weird enough to be from the future),
and follow it up by having them see a flying
ship crash-land in “Jammin,” a SPELLJAMMER™
adventure by Jim Ward in DUNGEON issue #21.
Decide that SPELLJAMMER game ships are
common in the future and, depending on the
outcome of that adventure, send them through
X2 Castle Amber a D&D module by Tom Moldvay, but make the sudden appearance of the
castle-be normal for this time, and the
inhabitants—the Amber family—typical nobles
of the future. If the PCs take off in the SPELLJAMMER game ship, let them find the Forgotten
Realms—in the time presented in the boxed
set—or Greyhawk, or Krynn, or Pluto for that
matter. The fact is, you’ll probably find good
adventures everywhere, for almost any situation, without tapping your own resources—until
you really feel a malicious streak coming on.
My own world contains renamed versions of
the Lands of Lanewt, the Hill, Mechica, the
Known World, R’lyeh, Thay, the Isle of the Apes,
and Barovia; any of them sound familiar? When
it comes to DMing, adapting and modifying are
the keys.
Toby Myers
Hamilton NY
In respect to campaign creation: Like so many
other things, the best way is to prey off of the
genius of others, tie the mix-and-match jumble
together with a few ideas of your own, and set
the players on it.
In clearer terms, the first step is to examine
the party thoroughly, making sure you have a
complete update on all of their statistics, possessions, personalities, backgrounds, etc. You then
scour what magazines and modules you have
accumulated, and pick the minds of any of your
DM friends. You gather up the absolute best
adventure or series of adventures—with respect
to the party—and begin a figurative process of
modifying, cutting, and pasting. Find the module
with the best introduction and fastest-paced
beginning, and start with that. Take encounters
from other modules in appropriate settings, and
lay them in different places all around. For
example, if you have a very good and interesting encounter that takes place in a forest adventure, and the module that you have picked for a
starter is a forest adventure, weave it in. Look
at your wandering monster list; then find adventures centered on those monsters, wherever
possible (most wandering monsters are so
common that this shouldn’t be difficult). Decide
on how simply meeting the monster wandering,
or in a small setup, could lead into this other
DRAGON 29
An orc is a norke, of course, of course—
by Ethan Ham
When players begin to memorize the
monsters’ abilities, the game loses much of
its mystery. The encounters become nothing more than target practice, and the
campaign takes its first steps toward becoming a Monty Haul dungeon instead of a
suspenseful adventure into the unknown.
The problem is: How does a DM maintain
an air of mystery in a game where monster statistics and game rules are available
to every player of the game?
The approach described by Ed Greenwood in the article “Keep ‘em Guessing” (in
the Best of DRAGON® Magazine Anthology,
volume V) is a good way to maintain the
suspense and mystery of the campaign.
Mr. Greenwood suggests giving the players
only a vague idea of their characters’
abilities. The AKA (Also Known As) system
described in this article is complimentary
to this idea. Instead of focusing on the
characters, however, the AKA system uses
“mystery monster” encounters.
DMs often forbid players to discuss
monster attributes while in the dungeon.
This doesn’t solve the basic problem, however, since the players still know the information. Another technique is to constantly
use new monsters in the dungeon. While
this works, creating these new monsters is
a real challenge and can strain the creativity of any DM.
The AKA system gives the official monsters alternative names. This method can
be used in the AD&D® game without
difficulty. The AKA system is based on the
fact that each different society has different names for the same monsters. We
could, of course, just start calling an ogre
a “refrigerator,” but much of the fun in
role-playing games is in confronting legends hand-to-hand. The AKA system uses
the many authentic regional names by
which AD&D game monsters were known
throughout history. For example, the
leprechaun has various names in different
areas of Ireland: lurican in Kerry, cluricaune in Cork, lurikeen in Kildare, etc.
The AKA Thesaurus
Annis
Aquatic ogre
(merrow)
Berserker
Boggle
Brownie
Buckawn
Bugbear
Subrace
Centaur
Subrace
Cockatrice
Cooshee
Subrace
Cyclopskin
Doppleganger
Dragon, general
Dragon, brass
Dragon, green
Dragon turtle
Dryad
Duergar
Dwarf
Elf
Elf, drow
Elf, sylvan
Elfin cat
Gentle Annie9
Faeries, generic
Moruand41, murduac41, soetrolde41, skrimst44
Furors29, vadember19, wut16
Bogy9, bug9, kankas19, koko19
Bodachan sabhaill42, bwbachod43, bwca43,
dobie9, domovik31, fenoderee43, grogan42,
kaukas24, kobito21, niagruisar44, nisse44,
para13, pukys24
Bwca43, bwciod43
Bogy9, bodach41, bugan43, bull-beggar9,
busbus19, mormo1ux17, mumus19
Bug-a-boo9
Apotharni17, gandharva18, kentauroi17,
kinnara18, kimpurusha18, phere17
Callicantzari17
Calcatris14, calcatrix29, icheumon17
Ce sith42, cir sith42
Hound-of-the-hill9
Arimaspi34, kuklops17
Brag9, co-walker9, fetch42, fylgja44, vardogr44,
waff9
Gwiber43, vipera29, wurm16
Moko28
Linnorm44
Payshitha44
Aloustinai17 (may also be oread), hulder44,
jashtesme1, rusalka31 (may also be nereid)
Jugenderinnerugen40
Abac41, arndt40, avanc43, corrigan42,
dvergar44, dverge44, dvorgurin41, fain41,
guerrionet42, hairdmandle37 (plural:
hairmandlene), hosegueannet42, marchen40,
nain42, oennerbanske15, poulpiquet42, tusse44,
vui28, wui28, zwerge16
Alfar44, ellyllon43, esprit follet42, fadet14,
follet42, hidfolk44, hulder44, huldrafolf44
huldukona44(female), liosalfar44, lutin14,
ouph9, vaettir44, vattar12
Daimones epichthonioi17, dock-alfar44,
henkie42, trow42
Dames vertes14
Cait sith41
Genie
Ghost
Giant, general
Giant, hill
Giant, stone
Giant, storm
Gnome
Goblin
Gorgon
Griffon
Grippa
Groaning spirit
(banshee)
Guardian familiar
Halfling
Harpy
Hell hound
Subrace
Hobgoblin
Hound of ill omen
Succubus (female),
incubus (male)
Kobold
Korred
Leprechaun
Daoine maithe41, denee shee41, sheehogue41,
shingawn41, tylwyth teg42, wichthln16
Genius29 (singular form of genni), juno38
(female), lares29, stoicheia17
Bhut18, gangferd44, hantu25, kasa21, kuei5,
maneen41, mora31, nair44, onyudu21, siabrae41,
taidhbhse41, tais41
Athach42, jatte44, orchi20, stalo23
Fanggen37
Foawr43, fomorian42
Fankenmannikin37, fomor41, jotun44, orculli23
Berg-monche16, coblynau43,
heinzelmannchen16, husse44, genemos17,
gommes14
Bakemono21 , bogy9, coblyn43 (plural:
coblynnau), fossegrim44, fuath42, ghello17,
grim44, kirkegrimm44
Catoblepas29
Grup17, gryphus29, karga39, kirni21,
senmurv31, sumargh31
Kappi21
Aine41, baobhan sith42, bean chaointe41,
bean-nighe42, bean-tighe41, caoineag42,
caoteach42, cwn mamau41, gwrach y rhibyn43
Mikanko21
Banakil45, holbytla45, kud-dukan45, kuduk45,
periannath45
Arpuiai17
Cwn mamau43, devil’s dandy dog9
Cwn wybr43
Bwgan43, dobby9, lob9, puki41
Cwn annwfn43, gabriel hound9, ratchet9,
yellhound9
Alp23(female), mara35, mare9, mora19,
painajainen23 (female)
Alraune16, biersal16, galgenmannchen16,
oarauncle16
Corriquets14, crion14, guerrionets14, hommes
cornus14, korriks14
Clurican41, leith brog41, luchorpain41,
luchryman41, lurican41, lurikeen41
using the AKA system
Artwork by Jim Holloway and Daniel Horne
The AKA system campaign
When using the AKA system, you must
be careful to prevent the players from
thinking you are taking unfair advantage
of your power as a DM. The method of
introducing an alternative name is crucial
and must be well thought out.
The most effective way is by means of
an NPC encounter. If the characters are
being hired by villagers, have the NPCs
describe the monster that has been plaguing them as a “fetch” rather than a doppleganger. Then, instead of searching for the
doppleganger, the party will look for a
new and unusual monster that just happens to have shape-changing abilities.
Subrace
Subrace
Merman
Nereid
Nighthag
Subrace
Nixie
Nymph
Subrace
Ogre
Ogre magi
Orc
Subrace
Pegasus
Penanggalan
The second, more difficult method is
done without any NPCs. For example,
when the party is confronted by orcs, say
something like, “Several large humanoids
with piglike faces are attacking you! You
recognize them from stories you have
heard. They are norkes!“ The main drawback to the second method is that once
you have established a particular alternate
name for a monster, you must continue to
use it. As a result, it is very likely the
players will soon catch on to that alias.
One solution to this problem is to have a
different alternative name for the same
monster for each different player. (Perhaps each of them learned the name of the
Far darrig41 (also called fear deara41 and
redman41)
Geanncanac41 and red caps41 (also called
bloody caps33, dunters33, powries33, and red
combs33)
Ben-varrey43, ceasg42, daoine mara42,
dinny-merra43, gorgona17, hakenmann44,
havfrue16, havmand44, maigndean-mhara42,
maigndean-mhara42, maighdean na tuinne42,
maremind44, meerfran16, meerweiber16,
morgan42, murughach41, watermome16,
wut-ian uder4
Naiad17
Cailleach bheur42, calill eaca41, haetes9 (the
ae is a ligature), hexe16, krisky31, nocnitsa31,
plaksy31
Makva3 (also called a wood hag)
14
44
42
Dracae14, fenetten , fossegrim , fuath ,
hakelmanner16, kallraden44, nacken44,
nakineiu10, nakk10, nakki13, nickelmanner16,
nikkisen43, seemannlein16, stromkarl44,
vough42
Oread17 (also called anemikais17and
anemogadzoudes17)
Drakos17, drakaena17(female), lamid17
(female), malbrou14, tengu21, yamauba21
Oni21
—
Norke37
Arion17
Azeman36
Pixie
Phoenix
Roc
Satyr
Troll
Subrace
Unicorn
Vampire
Subrace
Werewolf
Subrace
Wight
Will-o-the-wisp
Subrace
Wyvern
Yeth-hound
Zombie
monster from a different source.) You pick
the alternate name based on who is viewing the monster at the time. Once you
establish an alternative name, you must
stick with it.
Note that some of the alternate names
for certain monsters in this AKA system
are also the names of separate and sometimes unrelated monsters in the AD&D
game (e.g., the gorgon is called the catoblepas in Roman folklore, and the stone giant
and storm giant might be confused with
the fomorian giant). Indeed, some people
in fantasy countries might lump all large
reptilian monsters together as “dragons:
or all humanoids as “orcs.”
Meryon9, duine sith42, pobel vean6, tylwyth43
Bennu8, feng5, ho21, hwang5, o21
Angka2, bar yachre22, pyong5
Callitrice11, fauni20, pane17, urisk42, silvani20
Elfor44, ellefolk44, foddenskkmaend12 (the ae
is a ligature), fulde12, huldre44, maanvaki13,
pysslinger44, thusser44
Bjerg-trolde44, skovtrolde23 (also called
skogsra23), ragnhildur44
5
17
Biasd na srogaig41, ch’i-lin , monokeros
17
38
17
Bampuras , sukuyan , tumpaniaios ,
upior27, upir31, vrykolakas17 (plural:
vrykolakes)
Lidevic19
Borbolakas17, kuldottfarkas19, legarou38,
loup-garou14
Prikolics30
Haug-bui41, tuath de danaar41, vitr44
Annequins14, chandelas32, chere dansante14,
culards14, eclaireux14, elf fire9, ellylldan43,
fioles14, fuochi fatui20, heerwische16,
huckepoten16, ignis fatuus42, irrbloss44,
irrichter16, jack o’ lanthorn9,
joan-in-the-wad9, loumerottes14,
luctenmaneken16, lygteman44, lyktgubbe44,
merry dancers42, nimbleman42, rusalky31,
spunkies9, swetylko7, tan noz14
Saint Elmo’s fire26
Wivre14
Wish hounds9
Draugr44, rawga23
Endnotes
l—Albanian; 2—Arabic; 3—Bulgarian; 4—Cheremissian; 5—Chinese; 6—Cornish; 7—Czechoslovakian; 8—Egyptian; 9—English;
10—Estonian; 11—Ethiopian; 12—Faroese; 13—Finnish; 14—French; 15—Friesian; 16—German; 17—Greek; 18—Hindu;
19—Hungaria,n; 20—Italian; 21—Japanese; 22—Jewish; 23—Lapp; 24—Lithuanian; 25—Malayan; 26—Mediterranean; 27—Polish;
28—Polynesian; 29—Roman; 30—Rumanian; 31—Russian; 32—Sardinian; 33—Scottish, Lowland; 34—Scythian; 35—Slavic;
36—Surinam; 37—Swiss; 38—Trindadian; 39—Tukish; 40—Vendish; 41—Celtic, Irish, and Goidelic; 42—Brittany, Brythonic, and
Highland Scottish; 43—Insular Brythonic, Manx, and Welsh; 44—Danish, Icelandic, Norwegian, and Swedish; 45 — The Lord of the
Rings, Tolkien.
DRAGON 31
How to use the AKA list
Listed alphabetically by official
AD&D game names is a thesaurus of
alternative monster names. Under the
official name of each monster are two
groups of entries. The first group is the
AKA list. These names can be interchanged as equivalents of that monster’s name. Below this is a second set
of entries: the subraces of each monster type. These subraces are closely
related to, but not the same as, the
official monster; descriptions of subraces follow. All AKA names for the
subraces are listed in the AKA Thesaurus.
All alternative names are endnoted to
describe the cultural origin of the monster. For the names that come from
true folklore, the country of origin is
shown. Several names, however, are
from J. R. R. Tolkien’s The Lord of the
Rings, and these are so noted. A more
complete description of the source is
given in the bibliography.
Bjerg-trolde
The bjerg-trolde’s abilities are identical
to those of an ordinary troll. However, it
lives in desert and hilly regions, and its
hide is brown to tan.
Bug-a-boo
CLIMATE/TERRAIN: Any subterranean
FREQUENCY: Rare
ORGANIZATION: Tribal
ACTIVITY CYCLE: Any
DIET: Carnivorous
INTELLIGENCE: Low (5-7)
TREASURE: Individuals J (C)
ALIGNMENT: Chaotic evil
NO. APPEARING: 4-24
ARMOR CLASS: 7 (10)
MOVEMENT: 12
HIT DICE: 1 + 1
THAC0: 19
NO. OF ATTACKS: 1
DAMAGE/ATTACK: By weapon type
SPECIAL ATTACKS: Opponents have -2
on surprise
SPECIAL DEFENSES: Nil
MAGIC RESISTANCE: Nil
SIZE: M (5’ tall)
MORALE: Steady (11-12)
XP VALUE: 65
Bug-a-boos look like small and frail bugbears, and they are often mistaken for
their larger kin, especially since they can
often be found on the outskirts of bugbear
territory. The ‘boos live off whatever they
are able to scavenge from bugbear activities. If seven or more ‘boos are encountered, it is 30% likely that they have a
bugbear leader close by. Occasionally,
‘boos may be taken in by a bugbear tribe
and used as expendable front-line troops.
‘Boos use whatever weapons are available, usually ones of inferior craftsmanship.
‘Boos speak their own dialect of the bugbear tongue, which anyone who knows
the latter language can understand. They
get along well with other humanoids.
Callicantzari
Callicantzari (singular: callicantzaros) is a
name most often used to describe centaurs, but it may also be used in naming
forlarren, hybsil, korreds, satyrs, lamia,
and wemics. See “The Ungrateful Dead“ in
DRAGON issue #138 for a description of
this creature as an undead, ghoul-like
monster.
Cwn wybr
The cwn wybr are simply hell hounds
with wings (MV 12, 24 fly (D); XP + 1 HD
modifier). Although too small to make
good mounts, cwn wybr make formidable
opponents in the sky. Cwn wybr will hunt
down any flying creature they can catch,
and they are sometimes tamed by fire
giants. They interbreed with normal hell
hounds to produce either winged or normal offspring.
Far darrig
These larger than usual leprechauns (HD
1 - 1; SZ S (3’ tall); XP 420) travel in groups
of 1-4 and dress in red—but, unlike red
caps, they don’t use blood for a dye. Far
darrig possess a mildly dangerous sense of
humor; their favorite pastime consists of
playing practical jokes on lawful beings
(e.g., putting a beehive in a paladins armor). In addition to the usual leprechaun
powers, a far darrig can cast one cantrip
spell per round. It can also cast mage
spells from scrolls and, if a spell book is
available, can memorize one-first-level
spell per day.
Geanncanac
The geanncanac are closely related to
the far darrig. The only noticeable difference between the two subraces is that the
geanncanac are more malicious, having an
alignment of chaotic evil. They will play
cruel and often deadly tricks on all who
fall into their clutches.
Hound-of-the-hill
The hounds-of-the-hill are large dogs
with white coats and red ears. They share
the statistics for war dogs (see the Monstrous Compendium, “Dog”) except for
having 3 HD, THAC0 17, a bite doing 3-9
hp damage, and the ability to run at 15
when following prey in a straight line (XP
65). The hounds-of-the-hill are close cousins of the cooshee (Monster Manual II),
and they may even be a cooshee/commondog crossbreed. Though the hounds have
been known to run with the cooshee, the
cooshee seem to regard the hounds-of-thehill as inferiors. Because of their poor
camouflage, the hounds-of-the-hill are not
highly valued by the sylvan elves. These
hounds are most commonly seen in the
company of half-elves, who feel some
kinship to these animals. Once dally, a
hound-of-the-hill can bark loudly, causing
all within 120’ to make saving throws vs.
spells or be confused for 2-8 rounds.
Lidevic
The lidevic is a vampire without the
ability to shape change into bat form (so it
cannot travel aerially except into gaseous
form), and it cannot summon animals to
assist it. However, the lidevic can polymorph itself three times a day (for an
unlimited duration) into the image of a
victim’s absent or dead loved one; the
lidevic has continuous ESP and can search
a potential victim’s mind while the lidevic
drifts nearby in gaseous form. This tactic
is especially effective at night when the
moon is full. The lidevic can be destroyed
in the same ways as can a vampire, and it
has all other traits that vampires share
(XP 3,000).
Makva
Makva are basically identical in game
statistics to night hags, except that they
cannot travel into the Ethereal or Astral
planes. Thus they cannot “ride” sleeping
victims, nor do they need or make special
periapts. They cannot cast gates to summon evil creatures, either. Because of this
deficiency and their chaotic-evil alignment,
makva are banished from night hag “society” and are usually found on the edges of
wild forests. Like night hags, makva are
able to employ magic missile and ray of
enfeeblement three times a day, at the
eighth level of ability. They are also able to
cast know alignment, sleep, and polymorph self at will (the sleep power is of
the normal sort). Additionally, they have
the ability of advanced illusion, this being
the source of many gingerbread houses
that lost wayfarers report; they can cast
this spell four times per day.
Makva are invulnerable to charm; sleep,
fear, and fire- and cold-based attacks.
Silver or or +3 (or better) magical weapons are required to harm a makva. Makva
have olive-green skin and coarse black
hair (XP 4,000).
Norke
Norkes are closely related to orcs (perhaps with a little hobgoblin in their veins)
and look very much like their kin, sharing
the same game statistics except as follows:
AC 4 (10); MV 9 (12 w/o armor); HD 1 (5-8
hp); Dmg by weapon type, + 1 for
strength; XP 35 and up; chain mail usually
used. Norkes live only in mountainous
areas, where they attack unwary travelers. They look down on orcs and smaller
humanoids, enslaving them if possible.
Oread
Oreads are a subrace of nymphs found
in mountainous regions. Their abilities and
attributes are the same as nymphs, with
the addition of the ability to cast control
winds as 12th-level druids; they may do so
three times per day.
Prikolic
CLIMATE/TERRAIN: Any
FREQUENCY: Very rare
ORGANIZATION: Nil
ACTIVITY CYCLE: Night
DIET: Nil
INTELLIGENCE: NonTREASURE: Nil
ALIGNMENT: Neutral
NO. APPEARING: 1-6
ARMOR CLASS: 7
MOVEMENT: 6 (9 in werewolf form)
HIT DICE: 4
THAC0: 17
NO. OF ATTACKS: 1 weapon (1 bite in
werewolf form)
DAMAGE/ATTACK: 1-8 (3-8 in werewolf
form)
SPECIAL ATTACKS: Nil
SPECIAL DEFENSES: See below
MAGIC RESISTANCE: Nil
SIZE: M
MORALE: Special
XP VALUE: 270
The prikolics are dead werewolves that
have been animated as zombies. Prikolics
initially appear to be normal zombies, but
there is a 25% chance each time one takes
damage that it will change into an undead
“wolf-man” form, dropping its weapons
DRAGON
33
and biting savagely. In werewolf form,
only + 1 or better or silver weapons will
hit them. Cold-based, sleep, hold, charm,
and all mind-affecting and death-magic
spells have no effect on the prikolics,
although they may be turned by a cleric as
shadows. Holy water does 2-8 hp damage
to these creatures.
Ragnhilder
CLIMATE/TERRAIN: Rocky or mountainous terrain
FREQUENCY: Very rare
ORGANIZATION: Group
ACTIVITY CYCLE: Any
DIET: Carnivore
INTELLIGENCE: Low
TREASURE: Q (C)
ALIGNMENT: Chaotic evil
NO. APPEARING: 1-8
ARMOR CLASS: 7
MOVEMENT: 15
HIT DICE: 4
THAC0: 17
NO. OF ATTACKS: 3
DAMAGE/ATTACK: 1-6/1-6/1-8 or by
weapon type
SPECIAL ATTACKS: Hurl rocks
SPECIAL DEFENSES: Regeneration,
camouflage
MAGIC RESISTANCE: Nil
SIZE: L (9’ tall)
MORALE: Elite (14)
XP VALUE: 420
The ragnhilder are as large as normal
trolls but are weaker (18 strength, +2
damage) and sometimes use hand-to-hand
weapons. Their favorite form of attack is
to hurl 5-10 lb. rocks out to 60’, doing 1-6
hp damage. The ragnhilder have stonegray hides that conceal them 60% of the
time in rocky terrain.
Believed by some authorities to be a
subrace of leprechauns, the red caps are
closely related to the far darrig and geanncanac. Red caps are remarkably strong,
having strengths of 18 ( + 2 to weapons
damage). Red caps occupy abandoned
castles and towers, from which they drop
rocks onto passersby for 1-4 hp damage
per 10’ fallen. The red caps use the victim’s blood to dye their hair and caps.
Though they aren’t undead, the red caps
may be turned by a cleric as shadows
because of their innate terror of priests.
Only swords (magical or not) of all weapons will do damage to these creatures;
spells have normal effects, however. Red
caps have long claws and sharp teeth
which they use in combat. Red caps often
(70%) carry staves, of which 10% are
magical.
Saint Elmo’s fire
Saint Elmo’s fire are will-o’-wisps that
live over water. They usually appear before a violent storm, during which they
feed off the life-force of the dying sailors.
Skovtrolde
The skovtrolde are neutral-evil wood
trolls found in dark forests. Their statistics
are the same as for normal trolls, except
for these changes: #AP 1-20; HD 8; THAC0
13; SZ L (8’ tall). They have low to average
intelligence and often make their lairs in
trees. Some skovtrolde (30%) carry crude
long bows; their arrows are -2 to hit and
do 1-4 points damage. These wood trolls
have skin that is dark-green and covered
with brown blotches. It is 85% likely that
the skovtrolde will not be seen in a vegetated environment. If 15 or more trolls are
present, they are 70% likely to have treasure type E.
Red cap
CLIMATE/TERRAIN: Temperate forests and
ruins
FREQUENCY: Very rare
ORGANIZATION: Solitary
ACTIVITY CYCLE: Any
DIET: Omnivore
INTELLIGENCE: Exceptional
TREASURE: G (reduce coinage by 90%)
ALIGNMENT: Chaotic evil
NO. APPEARING: 1
ARMOR CLASS: 4
MOVEMENT: 15
HIT DICE: 5
THAC0: 15
NO. OF ATTACKS: 3
DAMAGE/ATTACK: 1-6/1-6/1-3 or by
weapon type
SPECIAL ATTACKS: Hurl rocks
SPECIAL DEFENSES: See below
MAGIC RESISTANCE: Nil
SIZE: S (4’ tall)
MORALE: Steady (12)
XP VALUE: 420
34 JUNE 1990
Holbytla
Bibliography
Asbjornsen and Moe. Norwegian Folktales.
New York: Pantheon Books, 1960.
Barber and Riches. A Dictionary of Fabulous Beasts. London: W & J MacKay &
Co., Ltd., 1971.
Briggs, Katherine M. An Encyclopedia of
Fairies. New York: Pantheon Books,
1977.
Briggs, Katherine M. Folktales of England.
Chicago: University of Chicago Press,
1965.
Christiansen, Reidar. Folktales of Norway
Chicago: University of Chicago Press,
1964.
Degh, Linda. Folktales of Hungary Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1965.
Domotor, Tekla. Hungarian Folk Reliefs.
Bloomington, Ind.: Indiana University
Press, 1981.
Evans-Wentz, W.Y. The Fairy-Faith in Celtic
Countries. Secaucus, N.J.: University
Books, Inc., 1966.
Finlason, Jay. Hack. USENET, public
domain.
Haginmayer, Fanny. Ancient Tales in Modern Japan. Bloomington, Ind.: Indiana
University Press.
Herm, Gerhard. The Celts. New York: St.
Martin’s Press, Inc., 1977.
Jones, T. Welsh Folklore and Folk Custom.
London: Reedwood Burn, Ltd., 1930.
Keightley, Thomas. Gnomes, Fairies, Elves,
and Other Little People. Avenel Books,
1978.
Lawson, John Cuthbert. Modern Greek
Folklore and Ancient Greek Religion.
Secaucus, N.J.: University Books, 1967.
Leach, Maria. Dictionary of Folklore, Mythology and Legend, Vol. I and II. New
York: Funk & Wagnalls Co., 1949.
Massignon, Genevieve. Folktales of France.
Chicago: University of Chicago Press,
1963.
Megas, Georgios A. Folktales of Greece.
Chicago: University of Chicago Press,
1970.
Mythology of All Races. Vol. I. Edited by
John A. MacCulloch, et al. 13 vols. New
York: Cooper Square, 1932.
Reed, A. W. Myths and Legends of Polynesia. London: A. H. & A. W. Reed, Ltd.,
1974.
Scandinavian Folk and Fairy Tales. New
York: Crown Publications, Inc., 1984.
Seki, Keigo. Folktales of Japan. Chicago:
University of Chicago Press, 1963.
Tolkien, J. R. R. The Return of the King.
New York: Ballantine Books, 1983.
Weekley, Ernest. An Etymological Dictionary of Modern English, vol. I and II.
New York: Dover Publications, Inc.,
1967.
Yeats, William. Irish Folk Stories and Fairy
Tales. New York: Grosset & Dunlap,
1959.
DRAGON 35
The Rules
of the Game
How can you teach someone to role-play? Here’s one system
by Thomas M. Kane
Have you ever tried to teach someone
how to role-play? The rule books make no
sense to a beginner; they contain reams of
data but almost never actually explain how
one plays. The game master (GM) and
players must teach new players the rules,
clearly and entertainingly. Although every
new player learns in a different way, there
are certain processes that you, as the GM,
will always need to explain.
Before the game
A new player has to have some desire to
role-play before he will listen to your
explanations. Tell him about exciting adventures-you have had (but don’t overdo
36 JUNE 1990
it). Explain the setting of your campaign
and suggest inspirational reading, such as
mythology or fantasy novels. These early
“lessons” need not be dissertations—
deliver them long before the game, in
normal conversation.
Beginners want to start playing immediately. Unfortunately, most role-playing
games consist of an unstructured crossfire
of ideas, questions, and jargon, all of
which quickly bewilder a new player. Give
the new player a short introduction before
his first game. Make it both. direct and
simple—never ramble about “escaping
inward” or “exploring the realms of your
imagination.” Explain that each person
pretends to be a character in a story and
simply tells the group what he or she
wants to do. And since the player characters (PCs) might not be able to do everything their players want, dice are used to
decide if they succeed or fail.
The concept of telling the GM which
actions your character is taking; then
receiving the results, is the core of all roleplaying games. Make sure that the new
player understands how role-playing
works. Many new players can barely
conceive of a game without cards, game
boards, or other equipment. When a new
player finally
understands the
sequence of
play, he often worries that role-playing
rules are too simple—that all players do is
talk. Assure him that the GM plans adventures in advance, and that role-playing is
as challenging as any game.
After outlining the sequence of play,
describe your functions as the game’s GM.
Explain that you are both an author and a
referee—whatever you say is true, even if
players disagree. The GM maintains and
controls the game environments for the
PCs. You might have to steer the new
player between two opposing misconceptions. Some new players feel limited to
making prescribed moves. My first
fantasy-game character carried a spare
suit of plate mail throughout his first
adventure because there were no rules for
throwing it away. Other new players must
be reminded that they are playing a game
with definite rules. They must abide by
the dice rolls and cannot “fudge.”
Finally, make sure that your student
knows that he does not need to kill the
other PCs to “win” (and that such actions
may, in fact, cause trouble in the game).
Explain that the party shares the same
fate, be it happy, tragic, or neither. New
players should know that adventures do
not always end in either a gain or a loss.
Victories may later seem Pyhrric, while
defeats can prove to be “blessings in disguise.” Once a new player understands the
general process of the game, let him start
playing. Answer further questions only
when he asks them.
Continued on page 70
Part 6: A culture with a different
sense of taste
by Bruce A. Heard
This series chronicles the adventures of
an Alphatian explorer and his crew as
they journey across the D&D® Known
World in their skyship. The information
herein may be used to expand D&D campaigns using the Gazetteer series.
Hastmir 4, 1965: Last night, Lady
Abovombe and I had a fine dinner in my
quarters. We spoke at length of the potential for enhanced cultural exchanges between our nations. I am convinced she is
perceiving a certain charm in my Alphatian manners—or perhaps it is my gray
hair. I got very close to a more personal
approach to the subject but was interrupted by my little bat companion’s sudden tantrum in its cage. Lady Abovombe
took pity on the furry thing, pampered
and petted it. then returned to her cabin.
The bat stared at me all along. I could
have sworn I have seen that look before.
The air is much cooler now that we have
reached the Wyrms Strait, on the southern
coast of the Vulture Peninsula. The crew
has switched to winter uniforms. Many of
the Cestian squires are in sick bay with
chills; they are not used to colder weather.
We are proceeding due west.
Hastmir 6, 1965: The water here is
dark green, thus the name of the bay—
Green Bay. I ordered the ship to wait until
sundown before reaching the coast. High
mountains rise to the west, and I would
like to examine them. There has to be
some civilization in this region. Most of the
coast is covered with forests of oaks, and
game seems plentiful.
Hastmir 7, 1965: Aha! We have flown
over several villages already. I was expecting human population, perhaps luckier
people than the Varellyans of the Vulture
Peninsula. Instead, we found very tall
people, closer to the size of ogres but not
quite as muscular. Detail were difficult to
determine in the dark, so I ordered Xerdon and few boltmen to join me in an
ground expedition to observe the natives.
The ship is to go offshore to avoid frightening the local population and is return
tomorrow night at the same place and
time to pick us up.
Hastmir 8, 1965: This was a rather
surprising expedition. As planned, we left
the Princess Ark and approached a native
settlement. There must have been no
more than 500 people there, with children
and cattle. These people are indeed as tall
as ogres, strong but not as massive. Their
skins are red, and most favor a style in
which their black hair is tied back in long,
single tassels. They wore elegant and very
colorful garments made of felt and wool,
including hats and boots. The most sur-
DRAGON
41
their obvious elven physical features—
delicate facial lines and pointed ears.
Wood was a material commonly used in
the construction of their houses. The logs
were ornately carved and painted. At the
center of the village stood a stone totem,
with many sculptures of various animal
heads.
I ordered Xerdon to remain at his post,
then turned invisible to continue my observations. I visited a few houses, which
looked very clean and quite comfortable.
It was late and many of the natives were
sound asleep, although two woke up as I
entered their houses. They must have the
keen hearing of the elves.
I saw a house curiously built on top of a
high menhir stone. Despite the precarious
look of the house, it was very solidly
built—as it should for people of that size. I
levitated up to the door since I could not
find a stairway. Fortunately the massive
door was ajar, so I peeked in. An old female was sitting on a rocking chair, reading a leatherbound book and smoking a
pipe. A large cauldron was puffing steam
in the fireplace, releasing the pleasant
smell of stew.
This is when I noticed the female had
lowered her. book and was quietly watching me. She cleared her throat and pointed
at another chair, near the table—a rather
large chair, of course. It was all rather
embarrassing.
After a final puff on her pipe, she pulled
out what looked like dried lizard tongues
from a nearby jar, then tossed them into
the fire, muttering some incantation. I
decided not to intervene. She turned back,
and said, in perfect Alphatian, “Well, visitor, why were you sneaking around our
village?”
After a number of probing questions,
she was apparently satisfied of my intentions. She called herself Ngezitwa in her
dialect, and said her people were the
N’djatwa (pronounced: un DJA twa). They
seemed to be a crossbreed of elves and
either ogres or giants—and a very successful mixture at that, offering the strength
of giant humanoids with reasonable spellcasting abilities. It seems that they kept
the best of both worlds.
The N’djatwa have lived on the shores of
the Green Bay for centuries, even before
the Varellyans reached their golden age. In
fact, the N’djatwa had regular trade with
the latter until the culture of the Vulture
Peninsula was obliterated. This did not
hurt the N’djatwa, since they could no
longer rely on the shipment of goods from
Varellya nor on any wealth created by
commerce.
The N’djatwa did travel north in search
of other people and met the bellicose
Androkians on the Isle of Cestia. That
proved disastrous to the expedition, of
which only a handful returned. The N’djatwa shun the uninhabited desert, the
Savannah, and the jungle. To the west lies
a very large mountain range, and to the
east a land of horrible monsters. The
latter is mostly surrounded with mountains, but occasionally monsters wander
into their lands, near the Green River. The
N’djatwa built fortified walls in several
mountain passes to prevent these destructive incursions.
Most surprising was the old female’s
mention of the lands that lie farther to the
east. Ngezitwa said that it was the realm of
the titans, huge creatures that seem to
spend their time fighting and destroying
each other. Most intriguing, she pointed
out that she had seen another flying ship—
like the Princess—in that region!
Ngezitwa casually explained with a smile
that village hunters had seen the Princess
and had followed her moves until my
arrival at the village. She added, “It really
is a nice ship you have, but personally I
prefer riding our giant pelicans. They are
quite friendly, they do not rely on powerful magic, and they have no equal when it
comes to bringing a load of fresh fish to
the village.” Well, I certainly felt I had been
put in my place!
We spent a few hours talking about
N’djatwaland and Alphatia. Ngezitwa didn’t
think the N’djatwa would mind establishing ties with Alphatia. She seemed very
interested in the prospect of acquiring
books and anything related to magic—
definitely an elven attitude. As druidess of
the village, she could speak for the villagers, but a more official approach for
the whole nation would be to meet the
head of the clan in the city of M’banyika.
The druidess would not reveal where the
city was, however, and she wanted it to
remain hidden. I accepted her invitation to
ride with her to M’banyika.
The next morning I discovered Xerdon
and his boltmen standing toe to toe with a
group of N’djatwa hunters, defiantly gauging each other. Xerdon had come to the
village looking for me. Fortunately, my
intervention and Ngezitwa’s prevented the
worst. Xerdon will dispatch a messenger
to the ship and remain at the village until
my return.
Hastmir 16, 1965: The flight to M’banyika was pleasant, albeit too slow for my
taste. The giant pelicans are comfortable
birds, but they require constant care and
time to rest. Halfway to the city, Ngezitwa
requested that I wear a blindfold—which I
did. This however did not prevent me
from seeing the path to the city, at least
partially; wizard eye spells are still fairly
useful in this condition.
The forest of oaks gave way to the pines
that grow on the mountain foothills. M’banyika lies 300-400 miles southwest of
Ngezitwa’s village, at about 3,000’ altitude.
It is a very nice city, with white fortified
walls, slender towers, small water canals,
and elegant bridges. It lies halfway up a
tall mountain peak, facing south. A waterfall drops several hundred feet to the city,
where the water forms a lake. The city
seems to have underground sewers (which
alone proves to me that the N’djatwa are
good architects). The streets are rather
narrow, and most residences have two to
three stories. I would estimate the population at 35,000 souls. Evidently, it would be
difficult to see the city from the mountain
pass down below. Finding the city through
the jumble of mountain peaks and ridges
is an impossible feat without a guide.
I was adequately greeted at the palace
and given a comfortable room to recover
from the journey. Unfortunately, I had the
distinct feeling the palace guard would not
allow me to wander the city unescorted. I
did, however, encounter little trouble in
leaving my room at night without being
seen. All is not as nice as it would seem.
The N’djatwa are slavers. Several markets
were still open, where N’djatwa bought
and sold their captives—mostly gnomes
and humanoids. I saw one human slave,
too—a Heldanner, judging from his fair
complexion and a black lion tattooed on
his chest. One group of slaves was taken
to what I would say was a slaughterhouse,
while warriors entered the city gates,
pulling several hundred captives in chains
behind their lizard mounts. Apparently
these N’djatwa haven’t completely shed
their ogrish attributes, either. It seems a
great part of the food required for a large
city such as M’banyika comes from these
slaves; I saw almost no fields, cattle, or
pastures near the city. I did not have time
to investigate further.
Hastmir 17, 1965: I met His Highness
Kitakanga, the Clanmaster of the N’djatwa,
early in the morning. He was just as eager
to learn from the empire as was Ngezitwa.
There was genuine interest on his part in
the establishment of some commercial and
diplomatic link with the empire. However,
some tension grew when I brought up the
slavery issue. If the N’djatwa wish to maintain any kind of relationship with the
empire, I said, it is imperative that all
Alphatian subjects must be absolutely
immune to any law or situation in which
N’djatwa could enslave or eat them.
N’djatwa laws are quite clear about their
own attitudes: Non-N’djatwa are fair game,
unless noted by proclamation from His
Highness Kitakanga. Even then, any lawbreaker could be enslaved (and devoured).
After much discussion, His Highness
agreed to concede such a proclamation
toward Alphatian citizens, provided Imperial Authorities would acknowledge (if not
approve of) N’djatwa civil laws. Kitakanga
would not negotiate that point. I had no
choice but to agree to his terms and sign a
provisional treaty. The Heldann slave I
observed earlier was offered to me as a
sign of goodwill. Fine—I did wish to question the fellow, after all.
It was time to return. The Heldanner
was tied up quite literally in the manner of
a sausage—no allusion intended—and
given over to my custody. Ngezitwa was
happy that we had come to an agreement.
The return to the village was uneventful.
Hastmir 25, 1965: Ngezitwa and I
traded gifts. I received a pair of exquisite
felt quilts bearing pelican emblems, sevDRAGON 43
N’djatwa Experience Advancement
Level
Hit dice
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10*
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
11+2
Young
Teen
Adult
1
Experience
needed
-4,800
-2,400
0
4,800
14,400
33,600
72,000
148,000
300,000
600,000
900,000
1,200,000
Spells per level
1
1
2
2
2
2
3
3
3
3
4
2
1
2
2
2
3
3
3
3
3
1
2
2
2
3
3
4
1
1
2
* +2 hit point per level thereafter; Constitution adjustments no longer apply. No other spells are gained beyond level 10.
eral scrolls of N’djatwa poems, and a
stuffed bread—no doubt a N’djatwa delicacy. I can only conjecture about the nature of the stuffing in that bread. It does
smell good, though. Perhaps a small taste
of it wouldn’t hurt.
To be continued. . . .
If you have already designed the areas
covered by the flight of the Princess Ark,
simply ignore the information given here
(the skyship simply went by, assuming that
these areas were already well known to
the Alphatians). If you have any comments
44 JUNE 1990
regarding this column or the D&D game’s
Known World as designed in the Gazetteers, please send your inquiries to: Bruce
Heard, D&D Column, TSR, Inc., PO. Box
756, Lake Geneva WI 53147, U.S.A. We
cannot guarantee that all letters will get
answers, but they will certainly have our
attention. Your input into the development
of the D&D Known World is welcome.
The N’djatwa
Many centuries ago lived two large rival
clans. One was the Nunjar, a horde of
ogres; the other was the Hatwa, a tribe of
mountain elves. Survival was very difficult
in this land of frigid glaciers and eternal
snows. Wood was scarce, and wildlife was
equally rare. Relations between the Nunjar
and the Hatwa teetered between all outwars and precarious truces. None would
leave the mountains, the land of their
ancestors and their sacred ground. After
Continued on page 15
“User-friendly” can mean “game-friendly,” too
©1990 by Michael J. D’Alfonsi
A role-player’s worst enemy is disorganization. Misplacing a vital chart or spilling
soda on your character sheet can put a
monkey wrench in the most exciting campaign and can ruin the enjoyment of all
concerned.
In my years as a referee and player, I
have seen my share of clutter. I still have
the binder that I used to store the notes
from my first campaign. It is stuffed with
loose sheets of paper that detail the history and inhabitants of the world of Zenobia. Too bad that posterity will not be able
to enjoy this material due to pizza stains,
smeared ink, and items that are illegible
because they were written in the middle
of the night.
Does any of this sound familiar to you?
When I first got my computer, it was to be
a study aid in college, but like many students I spent almost as much time playing
games as I did studying. It was about this
time that I was starting up my second roleplaying campaign. I had never thought
about doing any of my campaign work on
a personal computer, but it all started with
a player handout of history and character
backgrounds. After seeing how easy that
was, I slowly started to use the computer
in more and more ways. Since then, almost all of my campaign material has been
done on my computer.
What follows is a list of specific ways in
which your computer can make roleplaying much more enjoyable. Referees
and players alike will have
more time to role-play and will
spend less time with record
keeping. Groups will be able
to set loftier goals, with more
fun for all.
DRAGON 45
To employ my advice, you can use any
type of personal computer and will need,
at the very least, basic word-processing
software. Some of my tips call for a database or a spreadsheet program. Even if
you don’t own a computer, you probably
know someone who does, and most
schools and colleges have them available
for your use. Remember to always keep
backups of all computer disks, to insure
against power surges, magnetic storms,
and careless roommates.
1. Store character notes. One of the
biggest problems I have had, both as a
player and as a referee, involves keeping
track of what characters have seen and
done. Handwritten notes are particularly
bad for this purpose because you often
need to find information fast. If it takes a
player five minutes to answer a question
asked by the Grand Wizard of Zod, his
character may end up forever lost in an
alternate dimension. If players and referees keep notes during a game session
and later write them into computer files, it
will not only save time but will also greatly
increase the value of such notes.
2. Store monsters, NPCs, and special creations. If you are a “mad jotter”
like myself, you have ideas scribbled on
every scrap of paper within reach. The
possessions of Cyrus Shadowstar may be
written on the back of your algebra homework, while his abilities and history are on
a piece of paper stuffed between the pages
of the latest gaming magazine. That is no
way to run a universe! With a computer,
just create a file called “Shadowstar” and
update it every time you have a new idea.
The same goes for those nasty, slimy
things you transpose from your nightmares to your dungeons. Magical items,
artifacts, and new spells can all have a
place on your campaign disk.
3. Create charts and tables. My
favorite aspect of being a referee involves
the creation of new charts and tables.
Aside from having my own versions of the
usual random dungeon and treasure tables, I also make encounter tables for each
major section of my world. Tables and
charts are also a hot trade item among
referees, both for their ideas and for the
actual charts. By using a word processor
or a database, you can make your tables
and charts crisp and readable, and your
fellow referees will envy you. It is also
easier to print out a new chart when the
old one wears out or when it is revised
than it is to retype the whole thing.
4. Create character sheets and
other gaming forms. There are as
many versions of the character sheet as
there are players. As a referee, you know
what information you want your players
to have ready. Aside from the standard
statistics, possessions, and capabilities,
some referees are fanatics for height,
weight, and age; others feel that encumbrance needs to be accurate to the nearest
milligram. Whatever your preferences are,
you can tailor a sheet to suit them.
46 JUNE 1990
Depending on your campaign and gaming style, you can also create forms for
strongholds, land and property holdings,
spell research details, governmental policies, or expedition plans. The possibilities
are endless! You can use a word processor
to make all your forms. If you want fancier forms, use a desktop publisher.
5. Write adventures and campaign
notes. The greatest volume of paperwork
you will produce and keep track of consists of adventures and campaign notes.
Just like character notes, the facts and
figures that make up a world tend to be
scribbled on odd scraps of paper. If you
have gone into the depth that a welldeveloped campaign requires, you could
easily be talking about a desk full of paper
scraps. The thought of wading through
that much paper to find out the price of
rice in Xansaw should send shivers down
your spine. To help facilitate better organization (if not a cleaner room!), keep separate files on commerce, gods, armies,
navies, spell locations, bandit groups,
governments, guilds, secret societies,
customs, festivals, holidays, travel times,
laws, events . . . well, you get the picture.
A computer is especially helpful when
writing adventures. Adventure locales
(e.g., dungeons, secret laboratories, and
space stations) are not static entities. A
dungeon’s inhabitants may be wiped out
by a group of more powerful monsters; a
lab may get a new top-secret project and
have its security forces doubled; the space
station may have a reactor failure and be
abandoned. These places may also change
due to player activity, and adventure keys
should reflect their new status.
Let’s face it. Rewriting an entire location
key because your players wreaked havoc
last time they visited it is a real hassle. If
your guide is handwritten or typed, then
you face this tedious task, unless you want
to clutter your pages with scribbled notes.
If your adventure is on a disk, you can
revise those areas that require it, keep
those areas that are unchanged the way
they were, and print a new copy. When
your players return, you (and the denizens) will be ready.
6. Make newsletters and flyers.
About 10 years ago, I was in a gaming
group at my local game store. We were
involved in a war game in which each
player controlled a small portion of the
world and was out to conquer his neighbors. The game moderator wrote a weekly
“newspaper” that detailed the actions of
each player for the preceeding week’s
action. The same can be done for your
role-playing campaign, especially if it is a
play-by-mail group or if you have different
groups of players in the same world. If
you run a contemporary or futuristic
campaign, this can also be an entertaining
way to give your players miscellaneous
details about your game setting. Area
newsletters can help you share tips, successes, problems, and ideas with other
players and referees.
You can also make flyers on the computer. If you need new members for your
group, if you have something to sell or
trade, or if you just want to meet other
people who share your gaming hobby,
flyers are an effective and low-cost
method of advertising. Like character
sheets, you can use a word processor for
your flyers or a desktop publisher if you
want them to look more professional.
7. Catalog magazine articles. Somewhere in the recesses of my garage lies a
box filled with gaming magazines. Whenever I want to find a specific article, I have
to spend the better part of an afternoon
pulling them all out to sift, sort, and
search for the item I want. One of these
days I’m going to sit down and go through
all of those magazine, and use my database to catalog them.
Databases are generally very simple to
use. You set up the categories in which
you want to store information, then you
enter your data. The initial time you’ll
spend setting up the database is considerable, but once you’re done you simply enter
the appropriate information when you get
the newest issue of whatever magazine
you read regularly.
And there you have it. Your computer
won’t make you a better referee or make
your campaign more exciting, but it will
make your job a little easier and allow you
to have a little more fun in the process.
Anyone who has the fortitude and
imagination to create a game world can
surely take these hints, adapt them to his
own needs, and create his own uses for a
personal computer. Role-playing games are
built on creativity, ingenuity, and human
interaction. Let your computer help you
concentrate on those things instead of
record-keeping. Paperwork is a job; role-,
playing is an adventure.
The Hound of Shadow
(Electronic Arts)
Down in flames or up in flames: air-war and space-war games
©1990 by Hartley, Patricia, and Kirk Lesser
Although it seems we concentrate on 16and 32-bit entertainments, it doesn’t mean
we’ve given up on 8-bit games. The problem is that once you’ve become accustomed to the sharper graphics, outstanding sound, and faster game play of the
more advanced computer systems, 8-bit
games seem somewhat antiquated. However, we will still review games for the
Commodore 64/128 and the Apple II computer family. Indeed, we present a few
C64/128 game reviews in this column.
Reviews
Inline Design
Computer games ratings
X
*
**
***
****
*****
Not recommended
Poor
Fair
Good
Excellent
Superb
5 West Mountain Road
Sharon CT 06069
(203) 364-0063
Bomber
****
Macintosh IIx (B&W) version
$49.95
When Apple’s HyperCard appeared a
couple of years ago, it was seen as a marvelous device for information processing.
Many freeware HyperCard games are
available in the Macintosh forums found in
DRAGON 47
online information services, but few are of
commercial quality. Inline Design proves
that HyperCard is can be used as a software environment for commercially viable
entertainment.
Bomber places you in command of a
B-17 crew during World War II, assigned
bombing missions over Europe. Successful
missions garner advancements in rank and
rating. However, you must avoid German
fighter attacks, flak, and the rigors of
oxygen or heat depletion at high altitudes.
Combining digitized sound with realistic
graphics, Bomber has the look and feel of
real bomber missions. You start the game
by responding to the Base Commander’s
Headquarters, where you are assigned a
bombing run. You are the pilot, co-pilot,
bombardier, navigator, and gunners for
your plane, so you should listen to the
assignment and the suggested route to the
target. By using the game’s Photo Recon
booklet (don’t lose it like I did—this is the
game’s copy protection!), you become the
bombardier and aim your bombsight over
the landscape, trying to find the target
identified in the photo. This is not as easy
as you might believe. When you locate the
target, you press the salvo button and a
voice cries out “Bombs away!” You see the
explosions below through your bomb
sight. Then it’s time to fly home.
When attacked by fighters, you operate
as a gunner and track enemy fighters
through one of six gun positions on the
B-17. You use twin 50-caliber machineguns that carry 2,000 rounds each. The
closer you allow a fighter to approach, the
better your-odds of a kill. However, your
personnel can also be killed. Other dire
circumstances include: engine, heater,
oxygen, and landing-gear hits; gun jams;
cockpit fires; and even a runaway prop. In
the latter case, if you don’t “feather” that
prop within a second or so, you’re out of
control. Thank heavens there is a bail-out
option for the crew!
Bomber is extremely enjoyable and is
recommended for all Macintosh gamers.
Breach 2 (Omnitrend)
Omnitrend Software
P.O. Box 733
West Simsbury CT 06092
(203) 658-6917
Breach 2
$49.95
****
PC/MS-DOS version
****½
Commodore Amiga version
The Breach scenarios have always been
popular, especially with gamers who enjoy
48 JUNE 1990
Breach 2 (Omnitrend)
squad-level combat. Breach 2 has improved the game’s interface and graphics,
and it fully supports CGA, EGA, VGA, and
Tandy 16-color graphics boards. The game
requires 512K of RAM to run and DOS
version 3.0 or higher. Both the AdLib and
the CMS music cards are supported, although the only music we heard was the
opening theme when the game is booted.
A mouse is supported but is not necessary
to play the game.
To play the game, you first create a
squad leader. The squad leader is a soldier
of the interstellar Federated Worlds Special Forces. The squad leader’s goal is to
utilize his squad of marines effectively in
winning different scenarios. If your squad
leader is killed, you lose the scenario and
are bumped out of your mission back to
the main menu.
We played Breach 2 with an EGA card
and found the graphics to be quite pleasing except for once instance. Should one
of your Marines use a grenade, the explosion usually paints the ground a pinkish
color. Your Marine characters tend to get
lost in this color mix. We also lost a Marine
in the deep green of the forest and could
only spot him when we cycled through
our personnel and found the white square
outlining him in the forest.
The Commodore Amiga version does not
possess this difficulty. The graphics are
crisp and extremely well-defined onscreen. In fact, the addition of digitized
sound—especially when an enemy soldier
is hit—makes the game just a little bit
better than the PC/MS-DOS version. The
only drawback to the Amiga format is that
the game is approximately half as fast as
the PC/MS-DOS version. However, we did
prefer the overall feel and look of the
Amiga version of Breach 2.
You control every action of each Marine,
including your all-important squad leader.
To start, the main menu is divided into
three windows. The window on the far
left of the screen displays the available
scenarios. (Once you are familiar with the
game, you can create any number of your
own scenarios—a very nice feature!) The
upper right window displays any squad
leaders you have already created or allows
you to Make a new squad leader. By highlighting a scenario and a squad leader’s
name, you can then Play a sequence after
you name it.
Once your game is ready, you hit the “P”
key and the scenario starts. Each Marine
enters through an entry square. As the
Marine appears, you are informed of his
statistics. Icons allow you to get, drop, or
use items your soldier is carrying. Make
certain as your Marines appear that you
arm them with an appropriate weapon!
There are usually objects that can be
retrieved around the entry square, rang
ing from weapons to medical kits. Keep an
War of the Lance (SSI)
eye on the attributes of each Marine and
equip him appropriately.
You move from point to point by determining the Marine’s route. For example, if
you are using the mouse, you point the
cursor in the center of the Marine’s onscreen figure, hold down the mouse button, and then drag to the location you
wish him to occupy. When you release the
mouse button, the Marine moves to that
spot. Depending upon the number of
movement points used in that move, you
can now have the Marine complete another action. Perhaps there is an adversary two squares away. You move the
on-screen cursor onto the enemy figure,
then hold the mouse button down. This
causes your active Marine to fire at the
enemy. Misses and hits are indicated
on-screen.
By clicking on the “Next” icon or by
pressing the “N” key, you move on to the
next Marine. Should your current Marine
exhaust his movement points, you will be
automatically cycled to the next soldier.
When you have moved all of your men,
you can select the “Next” icon, which
cycles the game forward. It’s now time for
your enemies to make their moves and
attacks.
This procedure continues until either
you meet the victory conditions or you
and your men are killed. It takes a great
deal of strategy to win even the simplest
of the scenarios! You must remember that,
although on the offensive, you should
consider a defensive posture at times to
defeat your enemies. Just as you can
throw grenades and use rocket launchers,
so can the enemy! There’s nothing more
disheartening than seeing a group of your
Marines be disintegrated by a grenade
attack from the hostiles. Also, make certain that none of your men is in the way of
your own fire.
We really enjoy Breach 2 and are looking
forward to any number of coming scenarios for this game system. It, utilizes the
Interlocking Game System, meaning that
characters created and nurtured through
Breach 2 will be usable in other games
developed by Omnitrend. The PC/MS-DOS
version offers a lot of entertainment for its
dollar value, especially as you can create
your own scenarios. We recommend you
look at Breach 2 as a “must try” at your
software retailers for addition to your
game library.
DRAGON 49
Strategic Simulations, Inc.
675 Almanor Avenue
Sunnyvale CA 94086-2901
(408) 737-6800
War of the Lance
****
C64/128 version
$39.95
If you enjoy tactical combat war games,
War of the Lance is certainly one of the
best new offerings in this genre. SSI almost founded the war-game genre over a
decade ago and continues to produce highquality strategy games. War of the Lance
takes a different tack than other strategy
war games—this time you’re dealing with
fantastic armies and navies in the environment of TSR’s AD&D® game. Skill at commanding your armies is not lessened, but
heightened. Try commanding elven infantry as they go up against red dragons. Or
attempt the siege of a fortified city with
human infantry and mages.
War of the Lance is set in the
DRAGONLANCE® saga world created by
TSR. Dragons have been banished for over
a millennium, but now the Queen of Darkness, Takhisis, has brought the evil dragons back from exile. In concert with the
Highlord alliance of Neraka, the dragons
attempt to completely control Ansalon.
Their armies literally pour out of the
Khalkist Mountains.
On the side of good, you move your
units into positions to oppose the evil
hordes, and you also endeavor, through
diplomacy, to awaken the neutral countries and bring them into action against
the Highlord and his minions. Each side
also possesses champions who are constantly on quests seeking out those special
items that could turn the tide of battle. For
example, champions on the side of good
must hunt for Solamnic Knight Armor, the
Medallion of Faith, or Dragonlances. The
successful quests for the Highlord (evil)
side include the hunt for the Dragon Lord
Armor and Minotaur banners. You can
even designate units from your armies to
attempt to subvert these quests. However,
don’t forget that the enemy is also attempting to subvert your quests as well.
War of the Lance is a very timeconsuming war game. The only drawback
that we found to play is that each “round”
takes a long time to complete. This, perhaps, is because it runs on a C64/128,
which requires a number of disk accesses
and takes a lot of time to “think” about
each move due to its limited memory. The
graphics are certainly not earth-shaking.
Icons represent all troops. We recommend
50 JUNE 1990
Time Bandit (Microdeal)
Gunboat: River Combat (Accolade)
you not bother with the graphic depiction
of battles as this only slows down play
even more.
This strategic fantasy war game is going
to be difficult for novice gamers to become accustomed to playing. The battles
will seem heavily weighted against you if
you are playing the good forces. The scenario gives the early advantage to the
Highlord and his forces of evil. However,
through careful execution of troop movement, battle planning, and diplomacy, you
can pull Ansalon through this ordeal. The
game is playable by one or two players.
We hope to see this fantasy war game
released for other systems as well, systems
that might increase the speed of play.
Microdeal
576 South Telegraph
Pontiac MI 48053
(313) 377-8998
Time Bandit
****½
$39.95
Commodore Amiga version
The ancient saying that you can’t tell a
book by its cover certainly holds true with
Time Bandit. The packaging could not be
called an artistic masterpiece—but a great
arcade-adventure game awaits you inside!
The programmers not only offer you
colorful, exciting arcade tests of skill, but
they have also blended in a smattering of
text adventure scenarios. As the bandit,
you’ll answer riddles while deciphering
the clues to unlock the mystery.
As a time traveler, you select the land
you wish to enter by moving through
Timegates. Each Timegate takes you to a
different land, such as the Ghost Town or
the Omega Complex. You can fire missiles
at onrushing evil guardians and, when you
destroy them, receive points called cubits.
Earn 1,000 cubits and you earn an extra
life—well worth the effort, believe us.
You’ll soon find that the dangers will have
used up your starting 10 lives.
What makes Time Bandit even more
entertaining is its two-player mode. Each
player has a bandit, one dressed in light
blue with a playing screen in the upper
right corner, and the other dressed in
yellow with a playing screen in the upper
left corner. If one Bandit dies, he might
even return to the game as a Shadow to
either plague or assist the other player.
Look for scrolls in the playing field.
When “touched,” they reveal clues about
the reasons for your adventure and offer
tips. Surrounded? Have your bandit stand
still and press your fire button while rotating your joystick handle. He’ll spray the
area with missiles while turning completely about.
We have been hammering away at Time
Bandit for nearly 30 hours. We are still a
long way away from defeating the 16th
level and continue to seek all of the Great
Artifacts. This is a great game with aboveaverage Amiga graphics and good sound
effects. Time Bandits has everything an
arcade gamer demands in a superior
game—and more!
Strategic Studies Group
(distributed by Electronic Arts)
1747 Orleans Court
Walnut Creek CA 94589
(EA: 415-571-7171)
or
P.O. Box 261
Drummoyne 2047 AUSTRALIA
* * * *½
Fire King
Commodore 64/128 version
Price n/a
If you own a C64/128, you should also
own this fantasy action-adventure game. It
is amazing to realize that this, is an 8-bit
game and that the C64/128’s graphics in
this well-crafted and well-coded game
stand up against several games running on
more advanced systems. The game is not
copy protected, so you can make copies of
the disks using any sector utility copy
program.
Arriving on two disks, Fire King features
an astoundingly smooth interface using
the joystick. You become one of six characters and soon find yourself in your room
above the town square of the town in
Stormhaven Bay. (By the way, the publishers included an extremely informative
map of both the town and the surrounding lands inside the fold-out game package!) The harmony of the land is
controlled by the great elemental forces of
Earth, Air, Fire, and Water. Of the four
mages controlling these elements, the Fire
Mage was king until he was gruesomely
slain by a magical beast of superhuman
strength and size. A battle reportedly was
waged for hours until this horrid monster
was finally slain. During the Fire Mage’s
funeral in the catacombs, another magical
beast appeared and slaughtered the
mourners. Now the beast saunters forth
from the catacombs whenever it likes to
dine on villagers. Food supplies are becoming exhausted. New enemies, including
slimes, now roam the countryside. Someone must confront the beast in the catacombs and end the terror. Guess what—
that someone is you!
As with any good adventure game, the
joystick moves you in any one of eight
directions and fires the crossbow that you
are carrying. But don’t expect to hit creatures too far away.
The screen displays everything you’ll
need during your adventure. The main
window features your character, those
that oppose him or her, and the “goodies”
lying around to be picked up. Get as many
keys as you can—there are more doors
than you can shake a crossbow at. You
might also find Boots of Water or Boots of
Fire Walking, Rings of Invisibility, and the
much-needed and highly admired gold,
with which you can purchase new weapons and other items. The Thieves’ Guild
has many useful items to purchase, including information critical to the success of
your quest.
Below the main window are your seven
pockets. Within each pocket you can secrete as many as nine items. Always keep
an eye on the pockets to make certain you
have exactly what you need for the stage
of the adventure you are currently experiencing. For example, Boots of Water Walking will be mighty handy when you
descend into the sewers.
Included with the game is an in-depth
walk-through for the first adventure that
runs nearly four pages. We recommend
you try the game without resorting to
these clues, although even after reading
them, there is still much more you’ll need
to do before you can win the game.
Fire King doesn’t advance the state of
adventure gaming, but it does offer fast
arcade action in a fantasy adventure that
is quite exciting. Certainly, C64/128 gamers
will want to check this one out.
MicroIllusions
17408 Chatsworth Street
Granada Hills CA 91344
(818) 360-3715
* * * *½
Laser Squad
Commodore Amiga version
$39.95
This offering is as impressive as Breach
2 and constitutes an alternative software
adventure for squad-level combat. Although Laser Squad does not offer your
characters the possibility of advancing into
as-yet-unreleased scenarios, it does offer
some of the finest graphics and sound yet
reviewed in any Amiga game we’ve seen.
One or two may play. After the initial
deployment of your troops, it’s hunt and
destroy. Included with Laser Squad are
five scenarios that may be played at varying levels of difficulty—but the easiest
level was certainly no snap! After you
have selected the scenario you wish to
play, your squad appears on-screen. You
must then assign each of your squad members armor and weapons. As you won’t
really have a feel for the scenario until
you’ve tried it a few times, initial equipment purchases may be incorrect for the
mission.
Every weapon needs ammunition, too.
Although the weapons you purchase come
fully loaded, we guarantee you’ll need to
reload at some point within your mission.
In fact, a couple of extra clips might not be
a bad idea.
Beware of where you shoot! For example, in mission two (“Moonbase Assault”),
the objective of the squad is to destroy as
many databanks and analysers as possible.
You can take aim or use automatic fire on
targets; we recommend the former, many
other objects are lying around—such as
gas cylinders. Strike a gas cylinder with
inaccurate automatic fire, and your squad
members might soon pick shrapnel out of
their teeth.
Each member of your platoon has various capabilities, so try to take advantage of
their skills. Also remember you cannot fire
upon any target unless it is in your line of
sight. Your scanner will only reveal enemy
units you’ve already spotted.
All control is performed by using the
joystick and command menus. When you
Select a squad member, you see his name,
DRAGON 51
the number of movement (action) points
he can use this round, the object used by
this member, the terrain your soldier is
standing on, and the protective value of
that terrain. Also revealed are the minimum number of points needed for opportunity fire—keep these in mind if you
think the enemy is close, and don’t use all
of your action points in a headlong rush to
destroy a target. Position your squad
members so that any enemy unit coming
through a door or down a hallway can be
targeted for opportunity fire.
Laser Squad is really another exceptional purchase for the Commodore Amiga
gamer. A version is also available for the
Atari ST computer. We highly recommend
you include this exciting strategy squadlevel battle game in your software library.
Mastertronic
18001 Cowan, Suite A
Irvine CA 92714
(714) 833-8710
***
MEGA Pack
$34.99
C64/128 version
This offering is a group of 10 games
previously released in Europe, all bundled
together in one package. Considering that
the games carry creation dates of 1986 or
1987, you’re getting a good dose of C64/
128 games that were popular several years
ago. The technology in the games isn’t
state of the art, although some of the
games fare better than others. The package includes:
Rebounder—Contains unusual perspectives as you bounce through obstacles: * * *
Monty on the Run—It crashed every
time we tried to play it: X
Jack the Nipper II—A rather cute arcade
game that has the on-screen character
running around in Africa: * * *½
Bulldog — The music and the action are
among the best of this group: * * * *
Krakout—One of our favorites, this is
Breakout with a different flavor: * * * *
Future Knight — You’re inside a spaceship
trying to find a princess in distress; a
really dumb game: *
(The following games required that the
joystick be moved from port #2 to port #1.
No instructions are given regarding this
necessity.)
Cosmic Causeway — It has 24 “roads” to
travel; quite interesting: * * *
Trailblazer — Our favorite on this disk;
racing on Cosmic Causeway roads against
the clock or against a robot. This one was
really fun: * * * * *
5 2
J U N E
1 9 9 0
Northstar — Accidentally run into the
opposition and it’s over; hard to control: *
THING Bounces Back — Stop an evil computer from producing evil toys; this offering features more originality than the
others but is hard to control: * *
Overall, Mega Pack offers at least three
worthwhile games at a reasonable cost.
News and new products
Accolade (408-985-1700) has introduced
Gun boat: River Combat. Simulation
gamers will experience tight-quarters river
combat and the dread of a possible ambush around the next bend. You’re in
command of a high-speed Patrol Boat
Riverine as it embarks on more than 20
realistic missions along the uncertain
jungle rivers of modern day Vietnam,
Colombia, and Panama. Gunboat is scheduled for release for PC/MS-DOS computers
at $49.95.
Activision (408-329-0800) has released
the action-arcade version of the smash hit
movie, Die Hard. You assume the role of
John McLane, an off-duty New York police
officer who is suddenly thrown into a
rescue mission. He must race against the
clock, utilizing his strength and cunning to
rescue his wife and other hostages. The
price is $39.95 for PC/MS-DOS computers.
The Avalon Hill Game Company (301254-9200) has released Legends of the Lost
Realm for Macintosh computers. Players
may be fighters, magicians, shamans, or
thieves in pursuit of a magical staff hidden
deep with the walls of Taris-Cirinik, a
fallen fortress. The game introduces as
martial arts, weapon making, and alchemy.
The price is $39.95.
Dynamix (503-343-0772) has announced
the release of Simulation Module #1 for its
A-10: Tank Killer flight simulator. This is a
one-disk add-on that increases to seven the
new missions that can be played individually or back-to-back in the campaign. The
price is $12.95.
Electronic Arts (415-571-7171) is prepping everyone for the arrival of LHX Attack Chopper. Although this experimental
light helicopter is years away from actual
completion, EA is bringing the flying vehicle to your computer right away. Gamers
will command the skies with smooth 3-D
graphics, 12 external views, and unheardof maneuverability. The simulation is for
PC/MS-DOS computers for $59.95.
A third new game from EA is The
Hound of Shadow, for the Commodore
Amiga and the Atari ST computer. Priced
at $39.95, the game features a new system
called Timeline. You start by creating a
Timeline character and his skills. As you
play the game, the character’s attributes
affect the events and perhaps even the
outcome of the game. The offering is
inspired by the works of H. P Lovecraft
and represents an original contribution to
the Cthulhu Mythos. The adventure is set
in England in the 1920s; you must unravel
the secrets of arcane lore and discover the
horrors and supernatural doings that lurk
beneath the surface of London.
Another EA offering is Centurion: Defender of Rome for PC/MS-DOS computers. This game offers strategy,
role-playing, great graphics, and cinematic
animation to recreate the battles, diplomacy, and glamorous games of Imperial
Rome. You start the game as a young officer in control of a Roman legion. With
your skills as a diplomat and soldier, you
must defend Rome while bringing the
provinces around you under Roman rule.
The price is $49.95.
Also distributed by EA is the new UBI
offering, Iron Lord. This epic adventure/
arcade game is available for the Atari ST,
Commodore Amiga, and C64/128 computer. In Iron Lord, you are a noble knight
whose uncle has seized the throne and
killed your father, the king. It’s up to you
to overthrow him and recover your birthright. The price is $39.95.
From Cinemaware, distributed by Electronic Arts, comes Federation, a strategic
space and combat game that features one
of the largest universes ever created—over
eight million planets to explore! There are
15 increasingly difficult missions involving
investigations, evacuations, interceptions,
and destruction of the enemy. Each successful mission brings the player closer to
earning a coveted promotion or the money
essential to upgrade the effectiveness of
his spaceship. The price is $49.95 for
Commodore Amiga, C64/128, and Atari ST
systems.
Interstel, also distributed by Electronic
Arts, has introduced D.R.A.G.O.N. Force.
This individual-level combat simulation
puts you in command of an elite antiterrorist strike force assigned to a series
of top-secret missions around the world. It
is for Commodore Amiga for $49.95.
Kyodai (415-492-3590) has released
Curse of Babylon, a Nintendo-style action
game for the C64/128. You must save the
world of Babylon and conquer zombies,
rock creatures, and giant blue lizards that
terrorize this once-peaceful land. Stock up
on arms, magic, and healing potions. The
price is $24.95.
Medalist International (301-771-1151) has
introduced X-Men: Madness in Murderworld, a multilevel strategy super-hero
adventure from Paragon Software and
Medalist International, a division of MicroProse Software. This Marvel Comics adventure is released for PC/MS-DOS
computers for $39.95. A C64/128 version
costs $34.95.
Also from Medalist is Weird Dreams.
Imported from England, this computer
game has a soccer ball that devours knifewielding girls, a giant killer bee that wants
your cotton candy, a grandfather clock
that points the way, and a lawn mower
that grinds you to a pulp. The bizarre
scenes, puzzles, and arcade-style challenges in Weird Dreams are available for
$39.95 for Atari ST and Commodore
Amiga versions, with PC/MS-DOS and C64/
128 version due soon.
Clue corner
Curse of the Azure Bonds (SSI)
The battle with Dracandros in the Red
Tower is perhaps more a tactical issue
than a test of fighting or magical prowess
(this cannot be said about the final showdown with Tyranthraxus!). After you get
rid of the final batch of wyverns, you can
Encamp, Rest to replenish spells, and Fix
the group’s hit points. Then you get out to
a big courtyard, and there is Dracandros,
with a retinue of six dark elf warriors and
six efreets (10 HD, AC 2). The trick here is
speed, because you appear at one end of
the courtyard and they appear at the
other end. There are about 18 spaces
between the two groups.
Since both the efreets and the dark elves
have more movement allowance than you,
they will bottle your group near the entrance while Dracandros fries your people
with lightning bolts. The good tactic is to
cast a Haste spell before you enter (as well
as other usual protective spells) and run
like blazes toward Dracandros. You should
aim to put your best fighter in front of
him (blocking his movements), flanked by
a couple of others to keep the efreets at
bay, and with the spell-casters one space
behind to be in range for casting Stinking
Clouds (that affect the efreets very nicely).
However, first things first: At the start, a
mage must throw a Dispel Magic spell at
Dracandros in order to lower his armor
class. A cleric must cast a Silence 10’ Radius spell on one of the efreets next to
Dracandros, which will prevent him from
using spells. After that, you have to hack
and slash until the opposition is down,
which is no mean feat. By the way, Curse
and Bestow Curse spells, as well as Magic
Missiles, work well against the efreets.
The battle against Tyranthraxus at the
end of the adventure is particularly hard
because, once you’ve entered the temple,
you cannot rest anywhere. You have to
carefully select your spells and use them
sparingly against the hordes of evil minions that will confront you before the final
battle.
Before entering, cast a Haste spell, a
Protection From Evil spell for each character, and Enlarge or Strength spells on your
best fighters. You should also have acquired the Girdle of Giant Strength in
rakshasa country, so use it! Also cast Bless
and Prayer.
You appear at one end of a big hall, with
Tyranthraxus (as a storm giant, 19 HD, AC
0) and eight high priests at the other end.
But this time the middle space is filled
with margoyles (6 HD, AC 2). Your group
begins combat deployed in two lines, the
first line already in contact with the margoyles. Beware—the margoyles’ THAC0 is
rigged, since they normally have THAC0
15. Against AC - 6, they should hit only on
a 21—that is, a natural 20. But they hit one
of my fighters at AC -2 every other
round!
This means you must carefully set up
your party order before entering. The
following chart shows the character placements that I’ll describe:
5
4
are of high-enough level, you should receive from four to six attacks, which
should be enough to put Tyranthraxus
down.
Your mages (their best positions are 4
and 6, and they should definitely each
have a Minor Globe of Invulnerability)
should, at first, throw Fireballs and try to
hit as many priests and margoyles as possible. If the fight with Tyranthraxus is not
going well, they can perhaps assist the
cause with an Ice Storm or Cone of Cold.
The clerics should concentrate on the high
priests and then the margoyles. Concentrate on immobilizing the enemy, as you
can kill those helpless beasties later. Targets for any Hold spells should be the
margoyles unaffected by the Fireball
spells. A final piece of advice: If you win
but some members of the group are killed,
don’t despair. They’ll get resurrected at no
cost in constitution!
Jordi Zamarreno
Barcelona, Spain
Neuromancer (Interplay)
Deposit your money in Bank Berne or
Gemeinshaft. That way, if you go to court,
you won’t lose any money; if you die, you
will only lose what you were holding. Also,
the following databases contain AIs when
you penetrate their ICE: Psychology, World
Chess, NASA, Musaborind, and Free Matrix.
The following chips you can use like ICE
breakers to fight AIs: sophistry, phenomenatology, and logic. Zen can be used to
restore your strength during combat with
an AI.
The cyberjacks for some of the zones
are: 0 Cheap Hotel; 1 Gentleman Loser;
and 2 Hosaka, Fuji, or Musaborind.
Here are some link and password codes:
[see table].
Ben Venzke
Douglasville PA
6
1
3
Send your two best fighters in at positions 5 and 6, protected by Invisibility
spells or by avoiding contact with the
enemy, and have them go around the
margoyles (there is space between them
and the wall to allow passage without
contact) to end up with one fighter just
behind Tyranthraxus and the other behind him and to the right. If your fighters
2
Neuromancer Link & Password Codes
Base
Regular Fellows
Consumer Review
World Chess
Freematrix
Hitachi
Psychology
Asano
Musabrind
Bank Berne
Link
REGFELLOW
CONSUMEREV
WORLDCHESS
FREEMATRIX
HITACHIBIO
PSYCHO
ASANOCOMP
MUSABORIND
BOZOBANK
Access/Level
VISITOR/1
REVIEW/1
MEMBER/2
CFM/1
GENESPLICE/1
BABYLON/2
VENDORS/2
SUBURU/1
use sequencer 1-0
Highest level
2
2
2
2
2
3
3
3
—
DRAGON
53
Curse of the Azure Bonds (SSI)
and Pool of Radiance (SSI)
1. Always REST and FIX facing a wall,
preferably at the end of a hallway. This
limits the number of monsters the party
will have to face by at least one-third the
number. In CAB, this is particularly effective in Zhentil Keep where you must face
Dexam’s minions after the Zhentil bond is
removed.
2. To find out what magical bonus missile weapons have without having to Identify them, take the following steps (this
system can be used only on objects that
can be joined, such as arrows and darts):
Take a magical weapon whose magical
bonus is already known and displayed on
the equipment screen, then join that with
the missile weapon, with the highlighted
area on the displayed magical weapon.
3. Use the Dust of Disappearance before
you enter the council chamber containing
the Mulmaster Beholder Corps in Dagger
54 JUNE 1990
Falls. If you use it in combat, the whole
party is not likely to become invisible.
Also, the Behold Corps and the company
will probably kill a couple of party members before the character holding the dust
gets to make his move.
4. Don’t waste any attack spells on beholders, as those spells have no effect on
those creatures.
5. Just for fun, cast a Feeblemind spell
on a rakshasa. If it works, you will obtain
the creature’s spell list and see what spells
it can cast. But with the Feeblemind spell
in effect, the rakshasa can’t cast the spells
anyway.
David S. Zachary
Shreveport LA
Wizardry V (Sir-Tech)
To enter the motor room, you must buy
the Brass Key from good ol’ Ironnose, who
loiters about in the area past the Vampire
Riddle near 25N,20E. And if you think
there’s something in the pool at 12S,16W,
think again!
For those who figured out that they
need the blue candle to move past the blue
light at 25S,12E, but don’t know where the
candle is, try this: Get the Jeweled Scepter
from the chest you’ll find on Level 2. (Remember? You used the Spirit-Away potion
at 0N,2E to obtain the chest in the first
place!) Then get to the Temple of Kama
Kazi at 5N,12E where you’ll run into Lord
Hienmighty. Whatever you do, do not
trade away your Jeweled Scepter. Just kill
the dude and use the Jeweled Scepter on
the door you’ll find in front of you. This
will allow you into the Temple; once inside, you’ll find that Blue Candle.
Don’t forget to mail your hints and tips
to: The Lessers, 179 Pebble Place, San
Ramon CA 94583. The adventuring party
you save because of your knowledge may
save your group someday. Until next
month, game on!
Mica Antelope
TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES is a ® & © by
Mirage Studios. Art ©1990 Palladium Books. Artwork
by Kevin Long.
An editorial for parents
It was tragic but inevitable. John, my
four-year-old son, acquired a taste for
“Tidja Midja Nidja Turtles” from watching
their show at his day-care center. Shortly
thereafter, he also acquired a taste for a
mutant turtle T-shirt, sneakers, night light,
breakfast cereal, plastic toys, home videos,
and movie (twice). John’s favorite character is “Mica Antelope,” whom John has
decided to emulate in every way, even to
briefly adopting the name.
This new interest has a few negative
side effects. For one, he won’t stop singing
the theme song from the show, and he
doesn’t know many of the words except
for the oft-shouted refrain: “Turtlesonnahalfshell! Turtlepower! Turtlepower!” He
will sing this with no provocation whatsoever, day and night, but usually when
we’re in heavy traffic.
Another problem is the language that he
has acquired from the show (“Hey, toots!
Wanna split a pizza? Cowabunga, dudes!“),
which he often uses when company is
present.
The only behavior that I had to put a
stop to was his habit of making swords out
of rolled-up paper and flailing around with
them in the kitchen while I was trying to
make supper. That was right out. I eventually banned any other sort of martial-arts
flailing around in the house because I
developed that prehistoric parental fear
that he would poke himself in the eye with
one of his paper katanas.
Nonetheless, I enjoy watching him play
with his turtle toys and other unfamiliar
media-spawned delights. He has a healthy
and active play life, one shared by many of
his friends. “Tidja Midja Nidja Turtles”
won’t teach him a lot about life, but I don’t
believe that recreation has to be educational at all; it just has to be fun. And as a
parent, I like to encourage the good recreation and weed out the bad. Mica Antelope
& company are fine with me.
Some parents are less enthusiastic than I
am about the “Turtle Power” phenomenon.
I’ve even seen an article or two in the local
paper in which the cartoon’s use of violence to solve problems is knocked
around, and a woman interviewed on a
radio program said she wished there had
56 JUNE 1990
been female turtle characters with which
young girls could have identified. A recent
letter to a newspaper even criticized the
appearance of radioactive sludge on the
show (the source of the TMNTs’ powers)
as glorifying pollution.
Well, I’ve seen the TMNT videos (I really
had little choice), but I can’t see that the
cartoon violence on them is harmful; any
unwanted reaction to it was fixed with a
little discipline. As for the second point,
I’m less sure and will just withhold judgment. But glorifying pollution? Well, we
can’t all be on the same wavelength.
But I can see now, firsthand, how daunting it is to a parent to have your children
bring home an unfamiliar recreation—like
a role-playing game, for example—and
have this item take over your kids’ brains
like a space parasite. Just as the world of
“Turtle Power!” is fairly alien to me, the
worlds of role-playing must seem equally
confusing, if not more so, to many parents. What are “hit dice”? What’s a “saving
throw”? How much gaming is healthy for
my kid? The problem is made all the
worse by the media. Is this news report on
role-playing games really honest and insightful, or is it some ungodly mixture of
hype, rumor, innuendo, and paranoia?
What’s a parent to do? The easiest thing
to do would be to ban all gaming without
addressing the issue further, but this is the
lazy parent’s way out, and it just spawns
rebellion. Why not sit down and look over
the game books for a while? I agree that
the books can be confusing (some of them
confuse me, and I work for a company
that makes them), but the time can be
instructive. See if your children will explain how the game is played; ask them
questions until you get the basic idea of
what it’s about. (I mean, I watched turtle
videos until I would have confessed to any
crime that an interrogator would have
suggested, and I was satisfied that they
were acceptable viewing—not Jonny
Quest, maybe, but acceptable.)
You might even want to take a big step
and ask to listen in on a game that your
offspring are playing, which is the best
way to learn what they’re up to. We’ve
received several letters at DRAGON® Magazine from readers who actually encouraged their parents to sit in on their
role-playing sessions, and they report
great success in easing their parents’ fears
about role-playing itself. In fact, some
parents even joined the group.
We do receive letters now and then from
parents who role-play with their children.
I played in an AD&D® game in West Germany with a group that included one
whole family, and met another family that
role-played together just after arriving in
Wisconsin to work for TSR, Inc. The latter
family was that of Margaret Weis, one of
the original linchpins of TSR’s highly popular DRAGONLANCE® saga.
It is heartening to see some of the letters
from parents who support their children’s
interest in role-playing. The father of one
young author for DRAGON Magazine told
me that publication of his son’s work was
a major family event. Alan D. Long, a
parent in Aurora, Ill., wrote to us concerning the need “to point out the good things
about [D&D® game]. . . . It is a good game
system, a good family game; it’s a vehicle
to spend much time with our children, to
teach them decision making, problem
solving, and courageous behavior.” Mr.
Long, who noted that he was an active
worker in the Christian church as well as
a Cub Scout leader, went so far as to defend the D&D game from remarks made
in The Beacon-News, a newspaper that ran
an article expressing some anti-D&D game
opinions. And Judy Dietz, a mother of two
from Hawaii, said: “I don’t particularly like
the [AD&D] game myself, but my sons
do—so I don’t forbid them to play or buy
the books, games, or manuals.”
Maybe what the role-playing industry
needs is what Konami, Inc., a computergame company, has done. Konami has
started Konami Mom, a program in which
family issues related to computer gaming
are addressed. “So many parents are
afraid of computers and other high-tech
equipment, it’s easy to feel out-of-sync
with our kids,” says Konami Mom Charlyne Robinson, a Chicago parent and educational psychologist. “This [the Konami
Mom program] gives us the opportunity to
get up to speed with our kids and relate
on their level.” A press release from
Konami reveals that the Robinson family
plays a lot of computer games together. So,
in fact, do the Lessers of San Ramon,
Calif.—the people who have been writing
“The Role of Computers” column for this
magazine.
My son John is too young to be involved
in role-playing games, but it’s very possible
that one of these days he will badger me
to bring home a copy of one of TSR’s roleplaying rules so that he and his friends
can start a campaign. And after a few
marathon sessions of whining and griping
(on my part), I’ll do it. I’ve played roleplaying games for over a decade and have
worked at TSR, Inc. for seven years now; I
think I can tell if TSR’s games are good or
bad for kids. And I think that they are
good enough for my kid.
First, of course, we have to make it
through the “Turtle Power” phase, and
John has shown an uncomfortable interest
in getting a “ ‘Tendo” (Nintendo) computer
game for his birthday since he was three.
Thank God he still likes his Dino Riders.
Having loved dinosaurs since I was his age,
I can still relate to those.
Note: Konami, Inc. offers a free pamphlet
called, “Answers to Parents’ Most Commonly Asked Questions About Videogames,” which has a great amount of information that is applicable to many other
entertainments like role-playing games.
For your copy, write to: Konami Mom, c/o
Konami, Inc., 900 Deerfield Parkway,
Buffalo Grove IL 60089, U.S.A. Also ask for
any press releases on the Konami Mom
program. It’s worth it!
erek heard their approach. The tranquil morning air distinctively carried
the sounds of warharness and armor,
yet he rose and went to the yard unarmed. Though he had lifted no
weapon in more than eight years, it
still felt uncomfortable to greet any
visitor
thus. More so with visitors such as these who
were obviously not interested in good fellowship and ale.
The riders drew to a halt, destroying much of the yard
he had worked so hard to cultivate. One horse sidestepped
into the flower bed, trampling the flowers Aelfraeda had
planted years ago. The rider forced the horse back to the
yard, doing more damage than if he’d held his ground.
Once they were stopped, the nearest just short of trampling Gerek where he stood, there was an eerie silence
soon broken by the lead rider. His voice was powerful,
stern, and direct. Even the horses stood fast while his
breath smoked in the morning mist.
“If Gerek ap Aodhan be your name, then I have business with you in the name of Owein Skaga, Lord of Caer
Glas.”
Gerek braced himself, knowing full well the type of man
he baited. “I speak with no man through helm, nor with
whom I know not.”
The mounted warrior’s hand went immediately to the
long sword at his side; habit, that much Gerek could tell.
This was not a man accustomed to being greeted with
belligerence. For but a moment mail gauntlet rested on
hilt, then he seemed to retreat somewhat in the saddle.
The hand left the sword and went to the visor.
The faceplate lifted with no sound at all. A man who
cared for his armor, or one who could afford new when he
chose, or one whose armor had never seen the outdoors.
Gerek ruled out all save the first when he saw the steelgray eyes of his visitor. This was a man of war. Moreover,
this was a man who had seen war. And perhaps something
else as well; there was a weariness back of those gray orbs
that went beyond mere bloodshed on the battlefield.
“I am Rhys, Commander of Lord Owein’s armies. I’ve
been sent from Caer Glas to find ap Aodhan, the one they
call the Dragonslayer.”
“If it’s the slaying of dragons you’re after, then you’ve
come to the wrong place.”
Leather creaked and the warhorse snorted as Rhys
swung down from the saddle. “Are you, or are you not,
Gerek ap Aodhan?”
“I am he.”
Riders shifted in the yard, nigh twenty men flanking
left and right as if they thought he would attempt something. Gerek was both amused and annoyed to learn that
his reputation was animate even after an eight-year lapse.
Rhys reached up with both hands and completely removed his helm. Bracing it under his right arm, he
crossed the short distance separating them and offered his
left hand in greeting.
The left hand, leaving the right free to draw sword or
long knife. These thoughts passed through Gerek’s mind
like recollections of old friends. Gerek chose to ignore the
offered hand, both to bait the man and because a handshake through the mail gauntlet irritated him as much as
talking through the helm. Rhys withdrew his hand and
retreated a step. Sword’s reach, Gerek thought to himself.
Ivory in
the Blood
by Brian A. Hopkins
Illustrations by Paul Jaquays
DRAGON 59
“It would appear that legends leave out details such as
rudeness,” Rhys remarked sourly.
“You’ve not come for my hospitality,” Gerek fired back.
“You bring men of war. Men who have obviously failed at
something you hope I will succeed at.”
Rhys frowned. “Direct then?”
“No other way.”
“We have a problem at Caer Glas—”
“Obviously.”
“—for which we require your unique talents.”
“Have the peasants finally risen against your tyrannical
lord?” Though Gerek had never met Lord Owein, he had
ample experience in dealing with feudal lords. There were
exceptions to the rule, but most were pompous and unjust, supported by the peasants unlucky enough to fall
within their domain.
There was a shuffling of weapons and several curses
from the warriors in their semi-circle of steel. Tyrant or
not, they were loyal to this man Owein. Perhaps Gerek’s
arrow had flown off target with that remark.
Rhys surprised him completely by laughing. “You don’t
leave many outs for yourself, do you, Dragonslayer? Once
you’ve done with insulting us and our lord, we’ll be ready
to kill you if you refuse to help. As it stood before, you
might have had some chance of refusing us and keeping
your head on your shoulders.”
Gerek swallowed that and realized eight years of peaceful solitude had yielded an appreciation for life. “Ask,
then.”
“No,” Rhys responded. “Lord Owein requests your
presence. Whatever aid is asked of you, he will ask it. Get
what you need.”
Gerek shrugged. “I need only the clothes on my back.”
“I think not, Dragonslayer.”
“What then?”
“Whatever weapons and armor you’ll need.”
Though he knew, and had known since the sound of
their approach had echoed up through the canyons, Gerek
asked anyway. “What weapons?”
Rhys smiled. “Why, whatever weapons you use to slay
a dragon.”
It loomed dark in the distance, a towering, malignant
structure. Gray Castle. Caer Glas in the Celtic tongue. It
was visible for an hour before they actually reached its
gates of black iron.
“Don’t see how a dragon could bother you much in
there,” Gerek remarked to his companions.
“It’s not us it’s bothering,” Rhys answered. “It’s the
peasants.”
Score another one for this Lord Owein, Gerek thought
to himself. He cares about his serfs. Aelfraeda, my love,
how have I become so cynical over the years? Of course
there was no answer; she’d been dead nearly two years
now. Sometimes he still caught himself talking to her.
Behind him, the wagon creaked as it hauled his weapons and armor. Rhys had insisted that the gear be hauled
in a wagon they had brought and left waiting below the
ascent to Gerek’s cottage. Armor, sword, and lance had all
been retrieved from their resting place beneath the floor of
the house. Rhys’ men had been adamant that Gerek not
have the opportunity to touch anything. Despite their
curiosity, Rhys had seen to it that none of his own men
60
JUNE 1990
had opened the oilskin-wrapped items.
At the castle, Rhys was hailed from above and, once he
was identified, the gates swung open and an iron portcullis
was hauled up. Gerek remarked on the castle’s defenses.
“There was a time when we saw many wars in these
valleys, Dragonslayer. There’s been peace for the last five
years, but we don’t lessen our vigilance.” Gerek made no
comment and Rhys continued. “Caer Glas has withstood
four different sieges since it was built.”
“And one dragon has you at a loss?”
“It’s hard to light something that moves only at night
and lives beneath the ground.”
“Then you know of its lair?”
Rhys drew his horse to a halt in a courtyard, ignoring the
question. Stablemen rushed forward to take both their
horses. Gerek noticed the soldiers took care of their own
mounts. He awarded them some small measure of respect
for that.
Dismounting, Gerek patted the horse’s neck. It was a
good strong warhorse; no Riagan, but a good horse all the
same. He longed for the companionship of his old friend
nearly as much as he longed for Aelfraeda. However,
Riagan wouldn’t be needed this time since Rhys obviously
knew of the dragon’s lair. This would be no mounted
charge in the open. It would be your typical cave encounter: Go down, find dragon, irritate it enough to get it to
charge, brace lance, and let it do the rest, while you hoped
and prayed your armor withstood the heat. Later, burnt
and blistered, he’d take the head up for the people.
It took a minute before Gerek realized he was suddenly
thinking in terms of actually fighting this dragon. Why
was he doing this? Years ago, he’d laid his weapons beneath the floorboards of his cottage and retired. Keep
your wits about you, old son, he told himself. You’re too
old and much too soft for this kind of work.
“This way,” Rhys interrupted Gerek’s thoughts.
Gerek followed him through an archway, across a
smaller courtyard, and from there up a series of stone
steps leading to Lord Owein’s audience chamber. Owein
had evidently been told of their arrival, for he was waiting. He rose and extended his hand to Gerek. Gerek surprised himself by taking it. Owein was a strong,
amicable-looking fellow, not at all the tyrant Gerek had
envisioned Caer Glas would produce.
Gerek decided it was time to make amends. “M’lord
Skaga, I am Gerek ap Aodhan. How may I be of service?”
“Please sit over here and I’ll have wine brought in. You
must be thirsty after the ride.” Owein led him to a large
table to one side, away from the formal audience area.
“Rhys, send the wine in on your way out.”
Rhys frowned at the dismissal but left all the same.
Gerek and Lord Owein seated themselves at the table. “A
loyal man, Rhys Breandan, but he has failed to deliver in
this matter. Oh, not for want of trying, mind you; I have
no complaints.”
The wine was brought in by an older woman dressed in
simple but sturdy clothing. She poured for them both,
serving Gerek first. He waited until she had left before
repeating his question to Owein. “M’lord, I was brought
here under some duress. I must insist that you explain.”
Owein took one long drink of his wine, leaned back in
his chair and began. “Three months ago there was a
tremor in the foothills east of here. That tremor unearthed
something. Perhaps it had been waiting there for many
years, or perhaps the avalanches that followed the quake
simply awoke it. I’ve heard tales about them hibernating
for centuries.” He looked Gerek dead in the eyes. “We are
speaking, of course, of a dragon.”
“Eight years ago,” Gerek replied, “I scoured the land in
search of dragons. Your own father was one of the half dozen
or so men who funded the search. I found nothing. At the
time we were convinced there were no dragons left.”
“And you retired, the last of the dragonslayers.”
“By that time, the only dragonslayer who had lived to
retirement.”
“The evening following the quake, several farmers
reported missing cattle. We assumed it to be thieves. The
thefts went on. A week later, a young peasant woman
disappeared. Days later, a shepherd and half his flock
vanished. It continued, with Rhys and his men investigating every step of the way. In time they laid traps and
eventually one paid off; it came.”
Gerek saw it in his mind, not Rhys and his men specifically, but others who had set traps for something they
didn’t understand. They staked out cattle or sheep, with
the men trying to remain hidden, but oh so visible to an
airborne beast with hawk-like vision. They would be
bored, for this would not be the first night they had
watched the trap. Nor would it be the first night the
dragon had watched them. It would know the trap on first
sight and it would wait, knowing the nature of man from
eons of watching him evolve. In the dark mist of early
morning, the dragon would strike from the air, killing
those who didn’t flee quickly enough. Sure, they would
fight, but with weapons they used on other men: crossbows with quarrels that would bounce from reptilian
scales, and swords whose edges were meant to turn other
blades. Better to fight it with a skinning knife that would
at least scratch the hide than bludgeon it with a blade
meant to pound armor. The dragon would feed that night
on human flesh, ignoring the tethered bait. How many
times had he heard such tales? Had his fee ever been exorbitant enough that they need try it on their own?
Owein seemed to sense that Gerek knew what had happened and didn’t go into the details of their failure with
the trap. “Less than half escaped that night. Rhys’ own
brother was among those slaughtered. For him, it’s been a
personal battle ever since. A vendetta that has paid off, for
Rhys followed it back to its lair.”
“Forgive me if I seem skeptical, Lord Owein, but that
is not an easy thing to do. No horse I’ve ever seen can
keep up with a dragon in flight.”
“This dragon doesn’t fly. It is old, so old that the wings
have atrophied. I’ve never seen anything so huge—yes, I
was there that night and I saw it. Nor would I have ever
thought something that big could move so fast.”
“They will surprise you,” Gerek patronized.
“No, I’ve seen others. I even saw you slay one about
sixteen years ago. You hunted it for Lord Daren of Cornwall. I was among those who watched from a distance
when you ran it down. The Dragon of Cornwall could
have sat with ease upon our dragon’s knee.”
Gerek wanted to laugh, but couldn’t. “Surely you jest,
m’lord. I recall the encounter, unique in the fact the
dragon chose to fight in daylight, thus providing theater
for hundreds, yourself among them. But that was a ma-
ture dragon. Hell, the beast was so big and brown he
would have been mistaken for a fair-sized hill had he gone
to ground somewhere. That was no small green I slew in
Cornwall that day.”
Owein swallowed the last of his wine. “I know. Cornwall’s dragon must have gone—what, three rods? Our
dragon is nearly twice that long.”
Gerek said nothing, setting his empty goblet aside.
Owein continued. “Rhys and thirty men tracked it to its
lair. Rhys and twenty of them went down after it. Hours
later Rhys came out, dragging two wounded. The rest
perished. It was then we sought you.”
“I can tell you what I know of slaying such beasts, Lord
Owein.”
Owein seemed not to hear him. “I want you to kill it.
We have checked; you are the last man alive who knows
their weaknesses. You are the last with the skill to meet it
and succeed.”
“M’lord, for more than eight years the battles I have
fought have been in my garden. I am an old man. Dozens
of old wounds prevent me from moving freely before midday. I cannot go in there after your dragon.”
“Then we are lost. We have encountered the last
dragon, but there is no last dragonslayer after all.” Owein
half rose from his seat. “Must I show you what’s left of
those who’ve fallen to this nightmare? Is it the money?
Name your price, man! I’ll pay anything for the safety of
my hold and my people!”
Gerek ran his finger idly around the rim of his empty
wine goblet. His mind drifted again and he saw other
meetings, meetings where fees had been discussed long
before anyone cared where the dragon was or what the
dragon had done. Meetings where princes and barons
seeking adventure had hired him to simply hunt down a
dragon. Never mind whether the dragon had ever done
anything. It was game, like a deer or fox, and Gerek had
served as huntsman more often than he cared to recall.
But here was a man struggling to protect his people.
Here was a dragon rumored to be nearly twice the size of
any Gerek had ever encountered. Here was a dragon that
had gone from slaughtering cattle and sheep for food to
killing peasants.
Here was the last dragon.
And here was the last man alive who had ever slain one.
The wagon creaked to a halt, and Rhys pointed up to a
crumbled ridge. “There,” he said. “Look to the right of
that fallen spire. See it?”
Gerek forced back an involuntary shudder. Dragons like
the entrances to their lairs to be tight fitting. He’d seen
dozens of them that had piled rocks around the entrances
until they could just barely squeeze through. He hypothesized that they did this to make their lairs easier to defend.
If this one followed suit, then it was one hell of a big
dragon, easily twice the size of the Dragon of Cornwall, as
Owein had said.
“I see it.”
Rhys jumped down from the wagon. “Let’s get started.”
Gerek looked back at him and frowned. “One thing
needs to be made clear now or I stay in this wagon. I’m
going in there after that ugly brown bastard. Alone.”
Without answering, Rhys dropped the tailgate on the
wagon.
DRAGON
61
“Do we have an understanding?”
“Yes,” Rhys mumbled. “But one thing you should
know. He’s gold, not brown.”
Gerek swallowed that with everything else he’d heard
about this extraordinary last dragon. Everyone knew
young dragons were green. What they looked like at birth
was anyone’s guess since no one had ever managed to
track down a lair with young. It was assumed from studies
made on the reproductive organs of dead dragons that
they were egg layers. Gerek had always dreamed of finding a cache of dragon eggs. It had never happened. As the
dragon matures, the green eventually darkens and becomes a rusty brown. The brown eventually reaches the
color of rich mud in the mature dragons of about three to
four rods in length. Or at least in what Gerek had always
assumed was a mature dragon. Perhaps with age, the
brown faded to gold. Perhaps adolescent dragons were all
mankind had encountered. Until now.
The dragonslayer swung down and joined Rhys at the
rear of the wagon. Rhys handed him the longest of the
oilskin-wrapped packages which had been hauled from
Gerek’s home in the mountains. Gerek unwrapped it.
The lance was longer than any Rhys had ever seen
before, measuring a half rod or more. The package had
been deceptive, since the lance was wrapped as two pieces,
shaft and blade. The blade itself was eight hands long.
Rhys watched as Gerek mounted the head over the shaft
and then inserted pins to hold it in place. The pins took
some hammering, for which they used Rhys’ dagger.
When the lance was assembled, Gerek extended it to Rhys
and the Caer Glas warlord took it in reverent hands.
“Not the sort of weapon one would carry into battle,”
Rhys commented as he felt the slender blade. “Any heavy
weapon would shatter this blade. Why is it so thin?”
“Feel the edge.”
Rhys ran his finger carefully over the edge and yelped.
“Sharper than anything I’ve ever seen before. Can’t even
touch it without cutting myself.”
“A dragon’s hide is scales, tougher than your own armor. This blade is razor sharp and thin enough to slide
through those scales and find its heart. You get one
chance, one thrust. If the blade turns, or shatters, or
misses its heart, you’re a dead man. With one claw, it’ll
crush you like a bug, or those mighty jaws will lock
around your body and bite you in half. Or, if it’s feeling
particularly playful, it might just roast you alive. Most
dragonslayers died because they missed with the lance.”
“This is long enough to reach its heart?” Rhys asked,
indicating the eight-hand blade.
Gerek frowned. “It’s long enough to kill any normal
size dragon. As for our overgrown friend in there . . .”
Next, the dragonslayer unwrapped his sword and withdrew it from its plain leather sheath. Like the lance, it was
different from anything Rhys had ever seen. The blade was
wider than that of even the stoutest broadsword. Very thick
and heavy in the center, the blade then tapered down to the
thinnest, sharpest edge imaginable. Gerek slid it back into
the sheath. “Your own weapon would shatter the edges of
this blade if I were to attack you with it. It was ridiculous of
you to keep me from them when we left my home.”
“I had no way of knowing.”
“No matter. I like a man who takes every precaution
when confronting the unknown.” Gerek handed the sword
62 JUNE 1990
to Rhys. “Careful if you unsheath it. That blade is made
for cutting a dragon’s neck.”
Gerek continued to unwrap the rest of the packages.
They proved to be armor not much different from Rhys’
own, albeit heavier by about 40 pounds. There were other
subtle differences: like the double visor, the inside one
slotted for vision while the outer was solid to protect the
eyes. Or the hooks on the inside of the greaves, which
Gerek explained were used to cling to a dragon in battle.
As he suited up, the dragonslayer explained other differences to Rhys Breandan. Rhys didn’t realize it, but what
he was watching, no one would ever see again.
Armored, Gerek ap Aodhan belted the sword about his
waist. Though he was a tall man, the tip of the blade
nearly reached the ground. He took the lance from Rhys,
collected a torch from a pile of them in the wagon, and
looked up the hill. “Do not follow me in, Breandan, no
matter what you hear. Understand?”
Rhys nodded. With the hilt of his dagger, he struck a
spark from a piece of flint, lighting Gerek’s torch.
“If I don’t come out, either we have slain each other or it
has won. Probably the latter. Your best bet then is to try and
seal the cave.” With that, Gerek ap Aodhan turned and
began the short ascent to the entrance of the dragon’s lair.
He remembered the first time he had stood thus before
a dark cavern’s entrance. He had been nine years old and
with Aodhan, his father.
“Son, what I do now, I do for the sake of those townsfolk back there. Never think there is any glory in this
profession. I don’t do it for fame; and, as you well know,
I only charge enough that you and your mother may live
comfortably. There’s an evil on this Earth, son, and we’ve
been given the power to remove it.” The tall Celt had
looked down at the youth that just barely topped his waistline. “I know you don’t understand, son. But that creature down there is one of the devil’s minions. It’s my duty
to destroy it.”
Aodhan had emerged from that lair, dragging behind
him the severed head of a rather small brown dragon.
He’d rolled it down the hill to the waiting townsmen,
who’d stared at it in terror as if it still had some power
over them. Then their stares had gone from terror to awe
as they looked up the hill to their deliverer.
Gerek tried to recall how many times he had stood before the entrance to a dragon’s lair since that first time.
He couldn’t. This time was only marginally different. The
dragonlance was clutched in his left fist and the dragonsword hung at his side. The differences? There was no
Riagan waiting below to carry him home. And there was
no Aelfraeda to dress his wounds when he got there.
Both visors were up, and he felt the wind on his face.
He smelled flowers nearby. What was it that his father had
once told him?
“Son, every time I go down into one of those holes, I
think what a fine day it is to die.”
He had never been sure what his father meant by that
until the first time he had gone down alone. Before he
went down he had stood, tasting the windborne smells of
life, and understanding had come in a rush. It was indeed
a good day to pass from this world to the next.
Lance and sputtering torch held out before him, Gerek
ap Aodhan entered the lair of the last dragon. There had
been times when he had to take the lance down in parts,
but not this time. There was plenty of room, even for the
lance. This was an immense opening.
The damp dark of the lair enveloped him.
The great head rises from its resting place on the stone
floor. Golden eyelids go up, revealing emerald orbs. The
dragon’s eyes scintillate in the glow from the cavern’s
natural skylight. The tail thrashes in irritation, then is
abruptly still. Nostrils flare, emanating wisps of sulfurous
smoke that curl languidly in the still cave air.
He has come.
Though it has felt fear before, the dragon feels none
now. This is destiny. The dragon has been awaiting this
moment for a decade.
Minutes later, the dragon can hear him as well as smell
him. For a human, he moves with incredible stealth; yet
he is only a man, and an armored one at that.
A long forked tongue lashes out, and a few drops of liquid
flame bespatter the nearby rock. The dragon rises on silent
feet and turns to face the cavern’s southern entrance. Here
the cavern meets a natural tunnel. The walls are covered
with dried blood, and the cave is littered with the dented
metal remains of those who came hunting before.
This man is different.
He is not the first. Others of his calling have met this
dragon on a variety of battlegrounds. All those are dead.
This man is the last. Fate has brought them together at
this point in time. A predestination set in motion when
first their races met and exchanged blows.
The final confrontation has come.
Warm air rose to meet him. After a few moments of
descent, he lowered the first of the helm’s visors. The air
was moist. Perhaps a natural spring lay somewhere deep
beneath the surface, kept warm by that which swam in it.
It waited.
Somehow he knew it was aware of him, even when he
was sure the sounds of his approach had not yet reached
it. There was a sensation within him that he had never felt
before. As he was sure the dragon was aware of him, he
was just as aware of it.
The dark tunnel twisted and weaved, yet he had no
trouble navigating it in the dark. He felt as if he could
easily toss aside the torch. It was as if he had passed this
way before.
With a shudder, he realized it was somehow calling him.
The dragon, not he, had passed this way many times, knew
every turn in the ‘dim passageway. But was it guiding him, or
was he somehow one with the beast that waited?
There was a sound from below, something reptilian
sliding across rock and the click of claws. It had turned to
face him.
How did he know this?
A gust of hot air against his face and he knew it wasn’t far
away. A few more turns and he would meet the maw from
which that foul breath issued. His foot rocked something
metal, and he looked down to find a battered breastplate.
Beneath it lay a halberd, the shaft broken. The halberd was
unbloodied; the same could not be said of the breastplate.
The next turn in the passageway brought him to what
was a small alcove to the lair and the scene of a massacre.
Strewn about the cavern were the battered remains of
armor and the blackened bones of a score of warriors.
Now visible was the last turn. Around that, he knew, the
dragon lay in wait. He could feel its breath wafting around
the bend. The walls ahead reflected lambent fire that did not
originate from his torch. He knew it was laughing.
Laughing? Why?
Gerek dropped the torch and gripped the lance firmly in
both hands: Did the dragon know something about this
predestined encounter that he did not? For a moment he
had the strangest feeling that he had been here before.
This was a cavern he had walked more than once, maybe
not in this life, but in a myriad of others. He had turned
that corner before and it had always been the same.
He would turn the corner . . .
Move forward, just place one foot ahead of the other.
. . . with the lance extended and ready . . .
One hand ready to drop the second visor to shield his
eyes if need be.
. . . coming face to face with the dragon, golden nostrils
flaring and emerald eyes penetrating to the core of him
and. . .
Turn the corner.
. . . the dragon would say:
“And so, he has arrived.”
Gerek braced the butt of the lance. The sense of deja vu
had left him and he was now in his element. Charge, he
bid the golden monstrosity before him. But the dragon
rested casually, tail curled around and over its forelegs,
content to see what the intruder would do. This was unlike any lair encounter he had experienced before. Typically, dragons attack upon invasion of their domain. It was
this characteristic which all dragonslayers used to their
advantage: the charge, the braced lance, the impaled
dragon, and then the hacking with the sword.
This dragon followed none of the norms. And what’s
more, it had talked to him!
“Welcome, Gerek ap Aodhan.”
He lowered the lance and raised the helm’s visor. “You
know my name,” he stammered.
“The last dragonslayer. How could I, the last dragon,
not know of you?”
“You knew I was coming.”
“Before you did, human,” the dragon replied.
“And you know why I’ve come?”
“Better than you do, human.”
Gerek ignored the cryptic answers and chose instead to
examine both the dragon and the cavern in which it
rested. Both were huge, but there the similarities stopped.
The cavern was dark, black igneous rock born of fire. The
dragon was gold, aureate brilliance born of sunlight.
The worm was indeed bigger than any he had ever
seen, easily measuring the six rods attested to by Lord
Owein. As Owein had said, its wings were atrophied. If
this dragon could fly at all, it would be for short distances
only. The head was a broad triangle, horns of silver, eyes
of emerald, and fangs of ivory that dripped a liquid conflagration. The dragon’s pupils were pools of tenebrous
gloom. Its claws were penumbrous ebony, worn little by
the rocky cavern floor.
The cavern itself had two points of access: the tunnel at
Gerek’s back and another, similar opening that lay beyond
the dragon. Roughly circular, the cavern measured approximately 20 rods in diameter. Room for several more
DRAGON
63
dragons—even ones this size. Gerek, however, had his
hands full with just one.
He realized he’d been gawking for several minutes
while the dragon waited patiently. Where was the demon
he had come to slay? Where the beast his father had raised
him to fear and hate? “I . . . don’t understand,” was all
he found to say.
“You’ve come to slay me,” the dragon responded
bluntly. “What don’t you understand about it?”
Sweat trickled down his back. It was hot in the lair, and
the armor was becoming damn uncomfortable. He decided
to be more assertive and took a firm grip on the lance.
“You’ve overstepped your bounds, worm! Cattle and sheep
are one thing, but the peasants are something else.”
“Ah, the farmer’s daughter that disappeared.”
“And the young shepherd—“
“Who can tell you more about her whereabouts than
I’ll ever be able to.”
“What do you mean?”
The dragon sighed, causing Gerek to jump as flames
gouted forth. They splashed harmlessly to his left, though,
and he was somewhat embarrassed for his reaction. Lance
lowered again, he listened to the dragon’s answer.
“Why was it so easy to steal sheep from that young
shepherd?” The dragon did its best impression of a human’s grin. The attempt, however, was wasted on Gerek.
“Because he was busy sneaking off from his flock every
night to see the farmer’s daughter. The two of them got
tired of bedding in the farmer’s barn and finally ran off
together. Hence their disappearance.”
Gerek surprised himself. “Why do I believe you?”
More flame, this time a laugh which even Gerek recognized. “Perhaps before this night is through, you can
answer that question yourself.”
The dragonslayer looked down at his lance and
frowned. What am I doing here,? He moved to the cavern
wall and leaned the lance there, the dragon following his
every move. Sweat ran into Gerek’s eyes and he again
cursed the armor.
“Take it off,” prompted the dragon.
“That’d certainly make it easy,” he replied sarcastically.
Again the strange sound of a dragon’s laughter. “If I
wanted you dead, ap Aodhan, dead you’d be.”
That sunk in. This beast was nearly twice the size of the
largest dragon Gerek had ever killed, the Dragon of
Branwyne. The lance hadn’t been long enough to reach
that dragon’s heart. How could he expect it to reach this
one’s? There was the dragonsword at his side, but it had
barely triumphed over Branwyne’s dragon.
Time to decide, he told himself. Do I hurl myself at this
dragon and try to take him with me to hell? Or do I see
where all this is leading?
What would Father have done?
And then, fast on the heels of that last thought: Father’s
long dead.
He removed the helmet, eyes on the dragon at all times.
This laid aside, he unbuckled the belt holding the sword
about his waist. The sword he unsheathed, pleased as
something he judged as nervousness passed through those
emerald eyes before he leaned it beside the lance. He sat
down then and began the job of removing 120 pounds of
armor alone. The dragon laid its head across its forelegs
and seemed content to watch for a moment, then abruptly
64 JUNE 1990
it asked, “How many of my kind have you slain?”
Gerek looked up from the greave he was unbuckling.
Why the hell was he removing his armor in front of this
monstrosity? “Thirty-seven. The last more than eight
years ago in the hills of Northaven.” Why did it feel like a
confession?
“And your father before you?”
.“Some say he slew over a hundred dragons in his lifetime. I think the actual figure was around seventy. He
never would say.” Then, accusingly: “A dragon friend of
yours ripped him limb from limb when I was only fifteen.” Both greaves off, Gerek laid them aside and started
on the buckles above his knees.
“There were more of us in those days,” the dragon
reminisced. “You humans breed like vermin. A dragon
takes hundreds of years before he reaches maturity and
seeks out a mate. Time was on your side, human.”
“We had to protect ourselves,” Gerek countered.
“And we had to eat,” was the quick reply.
“It didn’t have to start as it did. Somewhere, hundreds
of years ago, when man and dragon met for the first time,
the dragon could have spoken up.”
“Was he given the chance?”
“But thirty-seven times I’ve confronted one of you and
not once did a dragon say ‘I think there’s been some mistake.’ ”
“Maybe there was no mistake,” the dragon said.
“Maybe our two races were destined to war, mine to lose,
and the two of us to meet here, where I guard a treasure
beyond belief.”
Gerek’s eyes darted to the opening behind the dragon.
Treasure? It was a myth, a peasant’s daydream. Never
had he found anything of value in a dragon’s lair.
The look did not escape the dragon. “In due time,
human.”
Armor set aside, Gerek sat back against the cavern wall,
both more and less at ease without the 120 pounds of steel
weighing on his body. If the dragon made its move now,
he was a dead man. But had he ever been otherwise? For
whatever good it would do him, his sword was within
reach, as was the now-useless lance.
“You leave today with no weapons, Gerek ap Aodhan,”
the dragon hissed, reading either his mind or his intentions. “You walk out of here more than a warrior today.
More than the slayer of dragons that you were.”
“Explain.”
Flames of irritation. “When—no, if—you leave these
caverns, you leave without that armor, without those
weapons, without my head.”
“All this in exchange for . . . ?”
“The treasure behind me.”
Gerek rose to his feet. “Seems I should take a look at
this treasure.”
The dragon also rose, more movement than Gerek had
yet seen from the beast. It didn’t move to block his path to
the lair’s second exit; rather, it seemed to be moving to a
vantage point from which it could watch Gerek enter the
treasure room.
Gerek realized as he approached the dark entrance that
he was now out of reach of his weapons. Small concern,
however, since the dragon’s movement had effectively cut
him off.
He was forced to duck to enter the dark antechamber.
As he crossed the threshold, the dragon extended one
forelimb and rested a claw the size of Gerek’s forearm on
his shoulder. “Harm her and you’ll not die a quick death,
ap Aodhan. That I promise you.”
He entered. It was a small cave, lit only with light from
the larger chamber reflected by the golden dragon. Shadows
concealed everything and he was about to turn about when
the dragon moved and with it moved the reflected light. A
shaft of that golden light fell across the floor and there she
lay, purest white on a cloth of velvet black.
“She’s real?” Gerek managed to get out.
At the sound of his voice, she raised her head, dispelling
all doubts. Dark eyes met his and he read some small measure of fear there. He showed her empty hands, glad to be
rid of both weapons and armor for this meeting. “Does she
have a name?” he asked, eyes locked with hers.
“She hasn’t said,” the dragon answered from behind
him.
“She’s beautiful.”
“Magic. Stuff of legends, like myself. The three of us
are the last of our kinds. You, the warrior of old, born of
honor and courage. Life wagered time and time again for
the peace and quiet of farm folk and overfed lords. I, last
of a race born ten thousand years before man. Destined in
the end to perish at their hands because we are not as
prolific. And she, last of a race nearly as old as my own.
Cursed by human mythology to be something she’s not
and to die for it. The last—”
“Unicorn.” Gerek scarcely breathed the word, mind
still refusing to accept what his eyes saw. They had been
legend all his life. He had never believed they existed.
Until now.
The foal got to her feet. Coat of purest white, matching
hooves, mane and tail the same, long and full, looking just
brushed a thousand strokes. Eyes that echoed impenetrable depths, matching black nose testing the air, and a horn
that should not, by all the laws of nature, be there. This
was the treasure that confronted him. She was so small,
couldn’t be more than a few weeks old.
“Where did you—”
“A story that’ll never be told, ap Aodhan. Suffice to say
she was entrusted to me. She is the last.”
“What will you do with her?”
“Give her to you.”
He turned then, full about to confront the golden face
that peered in at him and the unicorn. “Give her to me?”
“That’s what I said.”
“In exchange for armor, weapons, and your life?”
The dragon laughed, some of the resulting flames coming dangerously close to Gerek’s feet. He did not, however, back up for fear of startling the fragile creature
behind him.
“I’m changing your life, human. Take this frail creature and do what I cannot. Raise her. Perhaps in years
ahead, you’ll find a way to curtail her species’ extinction.
For all I know, she’ll breed true with your own horses.”
The dragon paused. “My life, however, was never part of
the bargain. Mine will continue to its own predestined
end. Yours, on the other hand, will change. That change
precludes the need for those items you’ve left in my lair.”
Gerek turned back to face the spindly legged apparition
on the velvet spread. He extended a hand and she first
sniffed carefully, then nuzzled it. Her muzzle was soft and
new; it brought unwelcome memories of himself as a child
and Riagan, this size, given as a present from his father.
“I’m offering you a chance, ap Aodhan, to right some
of the wrongs you have done in your life. Help this creature. Show me that your race is more than butchers.”
He knelt, and the unicorn moved against him. Seconds
later she melted into his arms.
“You’ll take her?”
In answer, he enfolded the unicorn in his arms and got
back to his feet. “What will you do?” he asked. “Caer
Glas is bound to hunt you and—”
A warrior’s scream of attack, the dragon turning on
claws that tore loose hunks of solid rock, the foal squirming loose to run for the shadows of her small alcove, and
the bright flicker of flame in the lair, all seemingly at once.
Gerek whirled about so fast he turned an ankle on loose
rock and went sprawling. As he scrambled to his feet, he
heard the voice of Rhys Breandan and the roar of the
dragon as one.
“Die, worm from hell!”
Rhys had the dragonlance clutched in his hands. Nearby,
a discarded torch sputtered hungrily on the rocky ground.
He dived at the dragon, not knowing the technique was to
set the lance and let the dragon come to you. His aim was
true, and the lance met the dragon behind the left shoulder
blade where one might hope to reach its heart. However,
Breandan hadn’t counted on the aureate scales of gold.
Tougher than any armor, they turned the blow. Rhys, with
eighty pounds of armor, crashed into the side of the dragon
amidst the flying shards of both blade and shaft.
The dragon whirled, and one great foreclaw swept the
Caer Glas warrior aside. Rhys flew across the cavern and
slammed against solid granite. He hung there against the
wall for a second, one gauntlet dropping to clatter to the
ground along with several small clasps that had torn free
of his armor; then he sprawled forward and was still.
Gerek reached the dragon’s side, limping on the turned
ankle. Dragon blood ran to form a pool at his feet. The
lance had penetrated before it shattered. From the amount
of broken blade on the ground, Gerek estimated half its
length must be in the dragon’s side. The dragon turned to
look at him, and there was fire in those emerald eyes.
A moan from across the room and Rhys was on his feet.
As Rhys drew his broadsword, Gerek saw blood running
from mouth, nostrils, and both ears. His helm was dented as
if it had been hit with a poleaxe. His visor hung to one side,
twisted. Drawing back the broadsword, he lunged at the
dragon.
“No!” Gerek screamed, but it was too late. Rhys was
in motion and the dragon’s mouth gaped, flames smouldering hotter than any hell. ‘With no choice, Gerek also
moved, rolling under the dragon’s belly to reach the
dragonsword.
Rhys struck. The blow caught the dragon squarely
across the snout. Sparks and blood flew. The dragon
roared and Rhys was enveloped in flame. The force of the
blast lifted the warrior and hurled him back a full rod,
where he somehow landed on his feet. His screams, as fire
consumed those areas not covered by armor, jarred loose
stalagmites that had hung for thousands of years.
Even as the flames erupted from the dragon’s mouth,
Gerek struck. The dragonsword bit with a solid thunk into
DRAGON
65
the beast’s neck and held there. The dragon spun about,
snapping the blade, and slamming its head full into
Gerek. He saw the shattered sword hilt spinning away just
before he struck the cavern wall.
Everything went black.
Sometime later—hours or days he couldn’t have said—
he felt something nuzzling against his side and he came
around. He opened his eyes to gaze into those of the unicorn. The side of her white muzzle was streaked with red
blood. Shattered innocence, Gerek thought to himself.
He rolled to a sitting position, crying out as broken ribs
grated together. His head spun, and for a moment he
almost went back under; then the cavern quit spinning
and he was able to stay up by leaning on the foal. Vision
cleared, he looked upon the carnage.
The mess against the far wall had been Rhys Breandan.
A few flames still licked hungrily at the remains. Nearer
lay the dragon. Its head was stretched full upon the cave
floor, the emerald eyes watching him intently. From the
wound in its neck pumped a river of blood. Gerek discovered he was sitting in the continuously spreading pool of
dragon blood. The unicorn’s hooves were red with it.
The dragon spoke first. It was no longer the powerful
voice Gerek had grown accustomed to. “Not what I had
expected from a dragonslayer of your reputation, ap
Aodhan.”
Gerek crawled closer, aware of the fact that he’d already
be dead had that been the dragon’s intentions. In moving,
he discovered one leg was broken. He moaned with pain but
crawled anyway. The same leg had been broken before
66 JUNE 1990
He reached the dragon’s head and surveyed the damage
there. The dragon would raid no more flocks. “I—”
“—moved to protect the other man,” the dragon said it
for him. “Instinct. Even as when I torched him. We are
both driven by those instincts. It’s the only way both of us
have survived to become what we are. The last.”
The emerald eyes shifted to the unicorn that waited,
uncertain of her own fate in this haven turned slaughterhouse. “Take her, Gerek ap Aodhan. She has none of the
warrior instincts that have allowed both of us to survive.”
“Is there nothing I can do for you?”
“Nothing, human. Asking that shows me I’ve at least
changed you from the man who came in here for my
blood. Leave me now while I have the strength to seal
these caverns behind you. I’ll not have the peasants down
here after my head when I’m gone.”
Dragging his bad leg, Gerek found the largest piece of
the spear’s shaft and used it for a crutch. Slowly, in great
pain, he got to his feet and made his way toward the lair’s
exit. At the tunnel, he turned back and called for the unicorn. The fragile creature looked to the dragon, and some
unspoken communication seemed to pass between them.
Then the unicorn trotted through the blood to join Gerek.
Gerek turned to leave, but the dragon called him back.
“Do me one favor,” it bade him.
“Name it.”
“The others will forget. Humans have never wanted to
believe in things of magic—dragons, unicorns, faerie
elves—but you know different. Remember me as I was,
ap Aodhan.”
“I will.”
The Rules
Continued from page 36
Fitting in
On page 111 of the AD&D® 1st Edition
Dungeon Masters Guide, Gary Gygax sug-
gested that novices play their first roleplaying games alone, without interference
from experienced players. However, most
GMs have no time to run separate campaigns for beginners, and most new players resent being segregated. Let new-
comers play an introductory adventure in
your regular campaign. Before the new
player arrives, make sure that the experienced players will be polite. Never let
anyone ridicule a newcomer. Both the GM
and the party must listen to the new
player and encourage him to play, reacting
enthusiastically to good suggestions and
setting aside terrible ideas with reasoned
but respectful comment. Established players can nurture the new party member
while role-playing. In fantasy games, tough
fighters may give terse and cynical warnings about the adventure to come, while
intellectual wizards might recall their own
apprenticeships and take a special interest
in the newcomer.
Every new player needs a character, but
many new players become bored while
rolling one up. Be sure that the new player
understands that generating a character is
part of preparing to play, not the game
itself. Briefly explain that in role-playing
games you pretend to be another person,
and randomly generated statistics (created
by dice rolls) show how strong, smart,
dextrous, etc., the imaginary character is.
Point out that as characters gain adventuring experience, they generally (if the game
allows for it) become more powerful. You
might compare rolling up a character to
dealing out cards in a poker game. Your
character’s statistics—like a poker hand—
determine how you will play. Then let the
new player choose between playing a
prerolled character and generating a new
one. If a game’s PC-generation system is
prolonged, a pregenerated PC would be
best; offer a choice between two or three.
If the new player wants to, roll up his
own character, do not complicate the
process with unnecessary detail. Height,
weight, and other details seldom matter in
a first adventure. Explain what each important statistic means and how it is determined. Let the new player participate, but
do not flood your student with data. When
the new player gets to choose something,
such as race, class, or alignment, mention
only the most attractive possible choices.
In most fantasy games, fighters and
thieves probably make the most satisfactory beginning PCs. Clerics require especially sensitive role-playing to avoid
seeming effete. Magic-users die easily, and
the rules for spells are complex. If your
new player wants to play a magic-user,
you should probably wait until later to
explain the difference between memorized
spells, known spells, and spells written in
the spell book.
In games with an alignment system, new
players might not understand concepts
such as “lawful” and “chaotic.” Most new
players become even more confused when
they are given a list of which alignments
believe in individual rights and which
might condone murder. You can describe
alignments by pairing fictional characters
with their ethos. For example, if the new-
Continued on page 100
70 JUNE 1990
by Skip Williams
If you have any questions on the games
produced by TSR, Inc., “Sage Advice” will
answer them. In the United States and
Canada, write to: Sage Advice, DRAGON®
Magazine, PO. Box 111, Lake Geneva WI
53147, U.S.A. In Europe, write to: Sage
Advice, DRAGON Magazine, TSR Ltd., 120
Church End, Cherry Hinton, Cambridge
CB1 3LD, United Kingdom. We are no
longer able to make personal replies;
please send no SASEs with your questions.
This month, the sage continues his tour
of the AD&D® 2nd Edition game. DMG is
the 2nd Edition Dungeon Master’s Guide,
and PHB is the 2nd Edition Player’s Handbook (PHB).
Dungeon Master’s Guide
What are-the size, speed factor,
and other statistics for the scythe
wielded by the minor death produced by a deck of many things (see
the DMG, page 166- 167)?
Speed factor is irrelevant in the case of
the minor death; it always strikes first. In
a character’s hands, a scythe makes a
cumbersome weapon at best. I suggest the
following statistics: cost 5 gp; weight 7
lbs.; size L; type P/S (the blade has both a
curved cutting edge and a sharp point);
speed factor 10; damage 2d4 (S-M)/1dG (L).
Where is the table for determining
what kind of coins can be found in a
Bucknard’s everful purse? How long
can the purse be empty before it
becomes nonmagical? I know the
book says “a few minutes,” but what
does that really mean?
The table was accidentally printed on
page 160 of the DMG, under the heading
“BAG OF TRANSMUTING.” Individual DMs
are free to define “a few minutes,” but I
suppose 2-5 minutes is a good base value.
The real intent behind the “few minutes“
comment is to say that a character is free
to empty the purse and get his daily crop
of coins, but must put at least one coin
back in before he goes off and does anything else. Most DMs rule that a coin of
each type must be present to get the full
effect; for example, if a purse could produce silver, electrum, and gold, then leaving just one silver piece inside would keep
it functioning—but the next day it would
produce only silver pieces.
How come chain mail costs less
than armor that doesn’t protect as
the wearer well? Chain mail, for
instance, costs 75 gp, vs. 120 gp for
scale mail. This is a misprint, right?
No misprint. Scale mail costs more to
make than chain mail, but its older, less
efficient design makes it inferior to chain
mail. The same goes for ring mail (cost 100
gp). People who know how to make chain
mail needn’t bother with scale or ring
mail. What kind of armor is available in
any given campaign depends on the time
period in which the game is set (see the
DMG, page 35).
Can a ring of spell storing containing a find familiar spell enable a
nonwizard character to summon a
familiar? How long would it take to
cast find familiar from a ring of
spell storing? How does the “one
attempt per year” rule apply to characters using a ring of spell storing?
It is perfectly reasonable to say that only
wizards have the mental training to maintain the empathic link between master and
familiar. It also is perfectly reasonable to
say that a ring of spell storing is powerful
enough to make any spell stored within it
work for the ring’s owner. Individual DMs
must decide on their own which is the
case. Any spell cast from a ring of spell
storing has a casting time of five. The
character who puts the spell into the ring,
however, must go through the spell’s normal casting procedure. In this case, the
wizard must fire up the brazier full of
incense and spend up to 24 hours casting.
Note that this makes it very unlikely that
find familiar will be found in a ring of
spell storing and. even more unlikely that
NPC spell-casters can be hired to restore it
to the ring. The “one attempt per year”
limit applies to both the ring and the
owner; that is, only one attempt can be
made each year with any given ring, and a
character who has two rings cannot try to
summon a familiar twice in the same year
by using each ring once.
My wife and I have a continuing
argument over the properties of the
vorpal blade. She insists that
strength bonuses are considered
when determining whether the
weapon severs a victim’s neck. I
point out that the footnote on page
186 of the DMG says only the
sword’s +3 bonus affects the score
required to sever.
This is probably the first time I’ve been
asked to settle a domestic argument. Bonuses for strength, specialization, spells
(such as bless or prayer), situation (opponent surprised, prone, etc.), or the like do
not affect the score needed to sever. Thus,
it is quite possible to solidly hit an oppo-
nent, due to a good roll and high bonuses,
but not sever his neck. In fact, the table
could—and probably should—read as
follows (the same table can be used for the
sword of sharpness):
Opponent
Normal/armored
Larger than man-size
Solid metal or stone
Unmodified
to-hit roll
needed to sever
head/neck
17-20
18-20
19-20
The PHB says that rogues can have
a maximum score of 95% in each of
their special abilities, but the DMG
has a table on page 23 that shows
scores of 99%. However, the same
table in the Dungeon Master’s
Screen shows no score above 95%.
The maximum score is 95%. The table in
the Dungeon Master’s Screen corrects
Table 19 in the DMG.
Will a girdle of dwarvenkind allow
a nondwarf to get full benefits from
a hammer, +3 dwarven thrower?
No; nor will the wearer suffer magical
item malfunctions as dwarves do (see the
PHB, page 21).
What is the correct formula for a
fighter’s individual experience
awards, as listed in the DMG, page
48? Does the fighter’s level change
the award? Is the award given for
every monster the party defeats?
The formula is the monster’s hit dice
multiplied by 10. The word “level” is a
misprint. All individual awards are just
that; they are awarded to characters who
do things without help from other characters. For fighters, the individual award for
defeating a monster is made after a oneon-one contest.
Monstrous Compendium
How come red dragons in the Monstrous Compendium have fewer hit
dice than blue dragons and no more
hit dice than green dragons? What
does the red dragon’s THAC0 entry,
“7 (at 9 HD),” mean? Also, the example in the general information section says that a black dragon’s base
hit dice is 10, but the black dragon’s
description says the base is 12 HD.
There is a typo in the red dragon’s statistics. A red dragon’s base hit dice is 15; a
Continued on page 74
DRAGON 71
Sage
Continued from page 71
black dragon’s base hit dice is 12 (the
example is wrong). All dragons’ THAC0s
are determined by their adjusted hit dice,
so a hatchling red dragon (9 HD) has a
THAC0 of 11.
Is there some mistake in the horse
listing in the Monstrous Compendium? I mean, simple riding horses
have more hit dice and a better
THAC0 than light or medium war
horses, and they move a lot faster
than medium war horses.
There sure seems to be an error. If you
want to cut riding horses down to size,
just treat them as light war horses with
one attack (a bite) for 1-2 hp damage.
Regardless of statistics, non-war horses
are nervous creatures that are more likely
to flee than to fight.
What do the “juvenile” entries in
the Monstrous Compendium’s giant
experience-point value entries
mean? Why are young giants treated
like adult giants of different species? Shouldn’t young giants have
abilities that reflect those of adults
of their own race? If young giants
are treated as adult members of
other races, shouldn’t you use those
races’ experience values? Just how
tall are young giants?
Those mysterious experience-point
values are part of an aborted attempt to
do just what you suggest—extrapolate
juvenile abilities from adult abilities. However, this was dropped during the editing
process to keep things simple and to keep
the revised giants more compatible with
the ones in the AD&D 1st Edition game.
The juvenile experience-point values were
printed in error and should be ignored;
use the experience values from the appropriate race when making experience
awards for juvenile giants.
If you want to derive young giants’ abilities from adult members of the race,
74 JUNE 1990
here’s the discarded system: To determine
an immature giant’s age randomly, roll
1d4 A roll of 4 indicates an infant with no
combat abilities and -4 hit points per die
(minimum 1 hp/HD). Other rolls indicate
juveniles with penalties to hit points, attack rolls, and damage done equal to the
die roll. Juveniles in the - 3 category also
do one less die of damage per blow. For
example, a - 1 hill giant juvenile would
have - 1 hp/HD (with a minimum of 1 hp/
HD) and a THAC0 of 10, and would do
1d6 - 1 hp damage with its fists or 2d6 + 6
with a club. A -3 hill giant has -3 hp/HD,
a THAC0 of 12, does 1d6 -3 hp damage
with its fist or 1d6 +4 with a club. Juveniles can hurl rocks; their minimum range
is the same as an adult’s, and the maximum range is equal to the adult maximum
minus a value equal to 10 yards times the
juvenile’s combat penalty; the combat
penalty also is subtracted from each die of
damage that the rock does (minimum of 1
hp/damage die). For example, a - 1 juvenile hill giant can hurl a rock from three
to 190 yards for 2d8 -2 hp damage.
Infant giants are less than one-quarter
the height of an adult, but are usually not
less than one-sixth adult height. Juveniles
are anywhere from one-quarter adult
height to full adult height; a -3 juvenile
would be from one-quarter to one-half
adult height, a -2 juvenile would be from
one-half to three-quarters adult height,
and so on.
Miscellaneous
Can you play the FRE-series Avatar
modules alter reading the books?
According to Avatar project coordinator
Jim Lowder, the story as told in the three,
Avatar books—Shadow&e, Tantras, and
Waterdeep — does not compromise play of
the modules at all. The books tell the story
of a group of fallen deities struggling to
regain their powers. The modules deal
with the mortals who help them.
ADVENTURERS’ INN, June 9-10
This gaming convention will be held in the
Mother Load Fairground in Sonora, Calif. Fantasy gaming will be highlighted. Other activities
include a large open gaming area, seminars, and
SCA demonstrations. Registration: $13/day or
$20 for the weekend at the door. Plus, a $3
refund for anyone in a medieval/fantasy costume. Write to: ADVENTURERS’ INN, P.O. Box
576, Sonora CA 95370.
ARTYCON II, June 9-10
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The information given in the listing must
include the following, in this order:
1. Convention title and dates held;
2. Site and location;
3. Guests of honor (if applicable);
4. Special events offered;
5. Registration fees or attendance requirements; and,
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where additional information and confirmation can be obtained.
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considered for use in this column; we
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dollar values given for U.S. and Canadian
conventions are in U.S. currency.
WARNING: We are not responsible for
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Accurate information is your responsibility.
Copy deadlines are the last Monday of
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Monday of October. Announcements for
North American and Pacific conventions
must be mailed to: Convention Calendar,
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Geneva WI 53147, U.S.A. Announcements
for Europe must be posted an additional
month before the deadline to: Convention
Calendar, DRAGON® Magazine, TSR
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If a convention listing must be changed
because the convention has been cancelled, the dates have changed, or incorrect information has been printed, please
contact us immediately. Most questions or
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European conventions should be directed
to TSR Limited, (0223) 212517 (U.K.).
indicates
indicates
indicates
indicates
an African convention,
an Australian convention
a Canadian convention.
a European convention.
78 JUNE 1990
* indicates a product produced by a company other than TSR,
Inc. Most product names are trademarks owned by the
companies publishing those products The use of the name of
any product without mention of its trademark status should not
be construed as a challenge to such status.
NOTE: Be aware that there are now at least
four SF/fantasy/gaming conventions with very
similar names: ICON, held in Iowa; I-CON, in
Long Island, N.Y.; I-KHAN, in Colorado Springs,
Colo.; and I-CON, in British Columbia. Other
duplicated convention names have been noted
(e.g., DEMICON in Des Moines, Iowa, and Aberdeen, Md.). Plan carefully!
DEEPSOUTHCON
XXVIII, June 7-10
“XXVIII” will be held at the Quality Inn-East
Ridge in Chattanooga, Tenn. Scheduled guests
include Bob Shaw, Raymond Feist, Darrell
Sweet, Forrest Ackerman, and Bryan Webb.
Registration: $25. Write to: DEEPSOUTHCON,
Box 23908, Chattanooga TN 37422; or call: (404)
578-8461 (no collect calls, please).
GLATHRICON ‘90, June 8-10
Sponsored by the Evansville Gaming Guild,
this 7th annual convention will be held in Evansville, Ind. Steve Jackson will be the guest of
honor; Skip Williams will be the DM guest of
honor; and Jean Rabe, the RPGATM Network
Coordinator, will represent the Network. The
artist guest of honor will be Lucy Synk. RPGA™
tournaments include AD&D® Feature, Masters,
Grandmasters and Joe Martin Benefit games,
with GURPS*, MARVEL SUPER HEROES™ Feature and Masters, JAMES BOND*, PARANOIA*,
PARANOIA* Masters, CHILL*, DC HEROES*,
CHAMPIONS*, and STAR TREK* games. Other
activities include a dealers’ room, a large art
show and print shop, an art auction, a masquerade, a miniatures-painting contest, seminars,
and panels. Registration: $20. Write to: Evansville Gaming Guild, P.O. Box 15414, Evansville IN
47716; or call: (812) 477-9508.
This convention will held at the Community
Activity Center, 3281 Sheridan Rd., Fort Sill OK.
Events include AD&D®, CALL OF CTHULHU*,
CHAMPIONS*, MARVEL SUPER HEROESTM,
ROLEMASTER*, SHADOWRUN*, STAR TREK*,
and STAR WARS* games, with a miniaturespainting contest and Japanimation. Registration:
$5 in advance, $7 at the door for both days, or
$4 for one day. Write to: ARTYCON II, ITR
Office, 1721 Gruber Rd., Ft. Sill OK 73503.
SAGA ‘90, June 9-11
This year, SAGA is moving to Globe High
School in Sydney, Australia. Events include
AD&D®, CALL OF CTHULHU*, and other roleplaying, board, miniatures, and freeform games.
Write to: SAGA, P.O. Box 71, Kingsway NSW:
AUSTRALIA 2208.
MADISON GAME DAY ‘90, June 10
This convention will be held at the Ramada
Inn, 3841 E. Washington Ave., Madison, Wis.
Events include role-playing, historical, miniatures, and board games. Registration: $5, no
game fees. Judges are welcome. Write to: MADISON GAME DAY, c/o Nick Klapper, 1909 Heath
Ave., Madison WI 53704; or call (608) 249-3264.
NEW ORLEANS SF/FANTASY FESTIVAL
June 15-17
The “Festival” will be held at the Bayou Plaza,
in New Orleans, La. The guest of honor is Roger
Zelazny, and the artist guest of honor is Dell
Harris. Other guests include George R. R.
Martin, George Alec Effinger, Greg Costikyan,
Denny O’Neil, and many more. Other activities
include programming, an art show and auction,
a hospitality suite, a dance, a meet-the-guest
party, movies and videos, a dealers’ room, and a
charity event for the Battered Womens’ Center
and the Chinchuba Institute. Registration: $20
until June 1, or $25 at the door. No preregistration after June 1. Write to: NEW ORLEANS SF/
FANTASY FESTIVAL, P.O. Box 791089, New
Orleans LA 70179-1089.
ORGANIZED KAHN-FUSION II, June 16-17
This gaming convention will be held at the
Central Penn Business School in Summerdale,
Pa. Activities include a dealers’ area, a
miniatures-painting contest, videos, and over 60
role-playing, war, miniatures, science-fiction,
and other games. The guest of honor is Tom
Wham. Registration: $4-6/day and $8-12 for
both days; depending on the date of registration. Membership is limited. Write to: M. Foner’s
Games Only Emporium, 200 Third St., New
Cumberland PA 17070; or call: (717) 774-6676.
PHANCON ‘90, June 16-17
Sponsored by the Gilde der Fantasyrollenspieler, Fantasywelt, Fantasy Productions, and
Spiel und Fantasy, this convention will be held
at the Stadhalle (Municipal Hall) in Ratingen,
West Germany, and features a wide variety of
games. Registration: DM 6/day or DM 10/
weekend in advance, or DM 7/day and DM 12/
weekend at the door. Write to: GTR, c/o Bernd
Streckman, Bruchstr. 48, 4030 Ratingen 1,
WEST GERMANY
MICHICON GAMEFEST ‘90, June 22-24
This convention will be held in the Southfield
Civic Center in Southfield, a suburb of Detroit,
Mich. Events include 50 RPG, 60 board, and 60
miniatures games. Other activities include three
used-games auctions, and open gaming. Registration: $12 for the weekend, or $7/day preregistered. Write to: Metro Detroit Gamers, Box
656, Wyandotte MI 48192; or call (days) Barry
Jensen at: (313) 591-2300 ext. 325; or call (evenings) Mike Bartnikowski at (313) 928-7744.
POLYCON VIII, June 22-24
The Simulation and Adventure Gaming Assoc.
of CalPoly is sponsoring “VIII.” Events include
stories and illustrations, movies, Liventures,
speakers, games, and a dealers’ area. Registration: $22 for weekend passes or $12 for one-day
passes at the door (GMs have special prices).
Write to: POLYCON VIII, c/o SAGA, Activities
Planning Center, Box 168, San Luis Obispo CA
93401, and ask about special room rates; or call
Stacey Fetters at: (805) 545-9858.
WORLD DIPCON ‘90, June 22-24
The 1990 International DIPLOMACY* Championships will be held at the University of North
Carolina in Chapel Hill, N.C. The tournament
will consist of four rounds of DIPLOMACY*
games, with a DIPLOMACY* team competition
and tournaments in CIVILIZATION*, TITAN*,
and RAILWAY RIVALS* games. The tournament
winner will be named the 1990 International
DIPLOMACY* Champion. Registration: $20,
with tournament housing for $15/night double
or $30/night single. Write to: David Hood, 15-F
Estes Park, Carrboro NC 27510.
DEMICON II, June 23-25
The Harford Adventure Society presents “II,”
to be held at the Holiday Inn-Aberdeen House,
in Aberdeen, Md. Events include AD&D®,
BATTLETECH*, PARANOIA*, CHAMPIONS*,
SHADOWRUN*, CAR WARS*, and WARHAMMER 40,000* games. Registration: $17.50
before May 31, or $20 at the door. Write to:
DEMICON II, c/o Harford Adventure Society,
PO. Box 1063, Aberdeen MD 21001.
ORIGINS/DRAGON CON ‘SO, June 28-July 1
The 1990 National Gaming Exposition and
Trade Show will be held at the Atlanta Hilton
and Towers, Atlanta, Ga. Guests of honor are
Tom Clancy and Doug Niles, with more guests to
be announced. Role-playing, strategic, miniatures, and computer game tournaments will be
held around the clock. Other activities include
panels and workshops, game and consignment
auctions, a masquerade, an art show and print
shop, and video rooms! Write to: ORIGINS ‘90,
Box 47696, Atlanta GA 30362.
IMAGINATION ‘90, June 30
This convention will be held at the Crawley
College of Technology in Crawley, West Sussex,
England. Events include AD&D®, BLOODBOWL*, STAR TREK*, and STAR WARS* games.
Other activities include war games, miniatures,
board games, and films. Registration: £3 until
June 29; £3.50 thereafter. £1 discount for children under 14. Send an SASE to: Graham Todd,
36 Deerswood Rd., West Green, Crawley, West
Sussex, UNITED KINGDOM RH11 7JN.
ECONOMYCON III, July 6-8
This convention will be held at Alma School in
Mesa, Ariz. Events include AD&D®, BATTLETECH*, BATTLE FOR MOSCOW*, CIVILIZATION*, and SUPREMACY* games, with open
gaming, Japanimation, World War II microarmor, and the LOST WORLDS* fantasy-book
game. Write to: ECONOMYCON, 2740 S. Alma
School, Mesa AZ 85202.
ARCANACON VIII, July 12-15
Random Incorporated is again holding this
nonprofit convention, at the Collingwood Education Center in Melbourne, Australia. Events
include AD&D®, CALL OF CTHULHU*, RUNEQUEST*, WARHAMMER 40,000*, and HUNTER
PLANET* games. Write to: ARCANACON VIII,
Random Inc., PO. Box 125, Parkville 3052, NSW,
AUSTRALIA.
DOVERCON VI, July 14-15
It will be held this year at the University of
New Hampshire’s Memorial Union Building
(MUB) in Durham, NH. Activities include an
RPGA™ AD&D® tournament and many other
gaming events, a film festival, and miniatures
and art competitions. Registration: $15 at the
door, or $10 for one day. Dealers and judges are
welcome. Write to: DOVERCON VI, P.O. Box 753,
Dover NH 03820.
CASTLECON III, July 20-22
This convention will be held at the Holiday
Inn Bethesda, in Bethesda, Md. Events include
SE fantasy, gaming, music, costumes, computers, science, and friendship. Registration:
$18 until June 30; $25 at the door. Write to:
FanTek, 1607 Thomas Rd., Fort Washington MD
20744.
CHIMERA, July 20-22
This convention will be held in the Hyatt
Regency Woodfield in Schaumburg, Ill. Guests of
honor are Connie Willis, Howard Waldrop, and
Gardner Dozois. Other guests include Richard
Knaak, Fred Pohl, and Barbara G. Young. The
seminars are all designed to make the reader of
SF more than just a consumer. Registration: $40;
childrens’ rate is $30 with babysitting if you
register before June 1. Write to: CHIMERA,
1016 Columbian, Oak Park IL 60302.
Continued on page 94
ATLANTICON ‘90, July 13-15
This convention will be held at the Baltimore
Sheraton Inner Harbor Hotel and the Baltimore
Convention Center. Activities include gaming
and free game demonstrations, game auctions, a
flea market, 24-hour open gaming areas, and
discount coupons for all preregistrants. Registration: $14 for the weekend prepaid, or $18 at
the door (one-day passes also available at the
door). Write to: ATLANTICON, PO. Box 15405,
Baltimore MD 21220; or call: (301) 574-5066.
COSCON ‘90, July 13-15
Sponsored by the Circle of Swords, this gaming convention will be held at Slippery Rock
University in Slippery Rock, Pa. Events include
first-run RPGA™ tournaments and events, board
games, a dealers’ area, a flea market, and a
miniatures-painting contest. On-site housing is
available. Registration: $10 until June 30, or $15
thereafter. Write to: Circle of Swords, P.O. Box
2126, Butler PA 16003; or call Dave Schnur at:
(412) 283-1159.
QUIN CON V, July 13-15
This three-day event will offer RPGs, fantasy
and historical miniatures, board and card
games, and RPGA™ events. A special tournament for the Hemophilia Fund will also take
place. The guest of honor will be game and
module designer, Lester Smith. This event will
be held at the Roadway Inn in Quincy, Ill. Ask
about special rates for convention attendees.
Registration: $5/day or $12 for the weekend,
preregistered. Write to: QUIN CON V, 3632
Maine St., Quincy IL 62301 (include an SASE); or
call (217) 223-8498.
DRAGON 79
Return trips to Krynn
by Will Larson
Despite acquiring a possibly terminal
case of Telephone Ear from interviewing
the—count ‘em—nine authors of 1990’s
lineup of DRAGONLANCE® saga titles from
TSR’s book department, this writer is
nevertheless eager to spread the news
about what’s in store for all you fans of
this series. Six new titles (three are cowritten) will make their appearance this
year.
The Preludes II Trilogy
Three of the six titles make up the Preludes II Trilogy, which consists of the adventures of the original DRAGONLANCE
saga companions during the five-year
period prior to their reunion at Solace.
Riverwind, the Plainsman (March) issues
from the same writing team that gave us
last year’s Darkness and Light and 1988’s
Red Sands: Paul B. Thompson and Tonya
R. Carter. The story relates the courting
quest of Riverwind for the hand of his
beloved, Goldmoon. Out of favor with
Goldmoon’s father, chief of the Que-Shu
tribe, because of his belief in the old gods,
Riverwind is given a seemingly impossible
task: to discover proof of the existence of
his gods and return with irrefutable evidence. Accompanied by a fellow tribal
heretic, the soothsayer Catchflea, Riverwind encounters draconians, a black
dragon, and unspeakably evil alchemists.
Getting to know Riverwind presented an
intriguing challenge to the authors. “Unlike some of the characters,” Paul relates,
“Riverwind wasn’t fully developed in the
earlier books. We essentially had a character and had to make up a lot of background for him,” which the young writers
found “both a drawback and a plus.”
“We tried to make Riverwind more human and not just a one-note hero,” adds
Tonya. “He has doubts and troubles.”
80 JUNE 1990
Besides his projects for TSR, Paul is
currently circulating two novels to potential publishers. Readers may run across his
fantasy Sundipper, published several years
ago by St. Martin’s Press. Tonya has recently been concentrating on short stories
and is contemplating a mystery set in her
native North Carolina, even though she
and her husband will soon be moving to
New York State.
Flint, the King (July) represents a milestone for authors Mary Kirchoff and Doug
Niles in that it was the first collaborative
writing effort for each of them. “It doesn’t
mean that you do only half the work;
Doug points out. “Each of us did more
than write half a book, but I think we
came up with a better story because of it.”
“Going into this project,” Mary joins in,
“we assumed that our strengths and weaknesses would offset each other. Doug does
great battles and magic, and my strengths
tend to be characters and dialogue, and
that’s worked out very nicely.”
Flint, the King brings Flint Fireforge, the
gruff but lovable dwarf favorite, “back to
his old hometown, Hillhome, which is now
doing trade with mountain dwarves, the
traditional enemies of his people,” relates
Doug. “Once there, he uncovers a murder
mystery that involves a member of his
own family, which leads him to the dwarven kingdom of Thorbardin.” In the course
of his investigation in that underground
kingdom, “he tumbles into a crevasse and
lands amongst a colony of gully dwarves,
who proclaim him king against his will. He
discovers that the derro dwarves are up to
a very, very nasty plot, and yet he can’t do
anything because he’s a virtual prisoner of
the gully dwarves.”
Doug’s fondness for Flint is hardly new.
For several years at GEN CON® game fairs,
he was the voice of the irascible dwarf in
the popular “readers’ theater” sessions.
Mary relates an eerie experience. “The
first time I tried to make Flint talk, he just
sat there with his lips moving. I paced
around the house and drank another cup
of coffee, but I just couldn’t make words
come out of his mouth.” Fortunately, her
editor came to her rescue with a favorite
trick of Mary’s own by suggesting she
assign some famous personality the role of
Flint. Since no one voice seemed adequate,
she ended up choosing Wilfred Brimley
and Yosemite Sam. “It was just as if the
clouds had opened up,” confides Mary.
“From that point on, I never had a problem trying to think of what Flint would
say, although his romantic lines to his love
interest still give me pause!”
Doug is the author of the best-selling
Moonshae Trilogy. He is currently enmeshed in developing the Maztica Trilogy,
also set in the Forgotten Realms. (Ironhelm
was released in April; Viperhand is scheduled for September.) For 1991, he plans to
develop two massive games commemorating the 50th anniversary of World War II,
one set in the European Theater of Operations and the other in the Pacific Theater.
Mary’s most recent book was the popular
Kendermore, featuring Tasslehoff Burrfoot. According to Mary, “That means that
now I’ve covered the Abbott and Costello
of Dragonlance” in Tas and Flint.
Winding up the Preludes II Trilogy in
November is Tanis, the Shadow Years, by
yet another mixed-gender writing team,
the multitalented duo of Barbara and Scott
Siegel. The books premise hinges on an
intriguing plot twist. At the request of an
old, dying mage, Tanis travels into the
mage’s memory in search of the old man’s
long-lost love. When the mage dies, his
memory of his love of her will also die. He,
however, desperately wants her to live on
after him. “Tanis has to find her and return to the present before the old mage
breathes his last,” explains Scott. “If he
fails, the girl—as the mage remembers
her—will disappear, completely forgotten,
and Tanis could find himself lost in a place
where only the dead can go.”
Barbara elaborates. “Memory travel, as
we created it, is different from time travel.
In time travel, Tanis would simply go back
into the past the way that it had occurred.
But in our book, Tanis goes back into a
past that’s entirely subjective. Within the
mage’s memory, events can occur whether
they happened before or not. The key is
whether the wizard believed that they had
happened. Memory has gaps, and things
can change much as they do in a dream,
because reality is only as sturdy as the
mind that remembers it.”
Here the plot takes yet another twist.
When Tanis finally meets the woman, he
can’t help but fall in love with her. Barbara
explains the new complication. “His purpose in finding this woman has to do with
another man’s love of her, so he’s falling in
love with this other man’s woman inside
the mind of the man who loves her. Talk
about mind games! What’s a half-elf to
do?”
The prolific husband-and-wife team has
written 37 books to date, both individually
and in collaboration. Besides Tanis, the
Shadow Years, other recent or soon-to-bepublished titles are The Encyclopedia of
Hollywood (Facts on File), Cat Tricks: 29
Silly Stunts You and Your Cat Can Do Together (Congdon and Weed), and The
Celebrity Phone Book (Plume). They’ve
done all of this in addition to their careers
as literary agents. Their agency, Seigel &
Siegel Ltd., represents a full range of
nonfiction and fiction authors, including
some familiar to TSR readers. such as R.
A. Salvatore (Icewind Dale and Dark Elf
Trilogies), M. S. Murdock (Martian Wars
Trilogy), Michael Williams, and Dan
Parkinson (see the following section).
The Heroes II Trilogy
Unlike the Preludes II titles, the Heroes
II stories are not fixed so specifically in
time, and the main characters may be
previously less-developed figures from
earlier books or even original characters.
June marks the release of Kaz, the Minotaur, author Richard Knaak’s sequel to his
earlier The Legend of Huma. Rick describes his story as “a strange plot involving the Knights of Solamnia and some
artifacts left behind by a renegade mage,
Galan Dracos. Along the way, Kaz meets
some old and some new friends and faces
threats from every direction, including
something that may or may not be a
dragon.”
Asked what it’s like to write a book from
the viewpoint of a minotaur, Rick laughs
and replies: “I had fun with Kaz, who was
a character of my own creation, especially
when I put him up against a kender
[Delbin, Kaz’s companion in this adventure]. A kender isn’t a character I would
normally touch, but I thought with these
two it would be nice to offset them. I
enjoyed that. I found out as I was writing
that Kaz had both good sides and bad
sides. He changed a bit as I wrote, especially when dealing with his own people
near the end. I got to see how he was
different from the other minotaurs, so
that kind of surprised me.”
Rick is currently working on Shadow
Steed, the fourth title in a continuing
fantasy series for Warner. The third title
in the series, Wolfhelm, is due out soon.
The Gates of Thorbardin, by Dan Parkinson, hits the shelves in September. Dan, a
Texan with a rich baritone voice, even
made the sacrifice of declining lunch with
a lady friend to keep his telephone interview appointment.
A newcomer to the DRAGONLANCE
saga, Dan found he had to make some
adjustments in order to write about nonhuman characters (particularly Chane
Feldstone and Jillian Firestoke, his dwarven protagonists). The challenge was, in
his words, “to bring these people, who are
of a different race than I am, very much to
life to make them as much as possible
three-dimensional people and show them
as being the best of what they are, and not
necessarily the best of what they would be
if they were human.” The book is essentially, says Dan, “the story of Chane, a
Thorbardin dwarf, and his quest to find
the Helm of Grallen and to seal the secret
entrance of Thorbardin against incursion
by magic.”
The author has assembled an array of
truly wild and wonderful characters. For
example, Jillian is armed with a borrowed,
point-heavy sword, which has disastrous—
though also sometimes effective—
consequences when she tries to stop the
sword’s swing. Chestal Thicketsway, a
kender from Hylo, is accompanied against
his will by an unexploded spell named
Zap, which even seems to talk to him.
Unfortunately for him, Chestal has no clue
of the deadly origins and nature of the
spell. Bobbin is a gnome who has been
banished forever from his colony because
of incurable insanity. “When Bobbin invents something,” quips Dan, “not only is it
not oversized nor overly complicated, but
it also actually works!”
Parkinson is no stranger to the book
world, having written 21 books so far
Continued on page 85
DRAGON 81
A losing war against the forces of darkness
©1990 by Jim Bambra
Chaosium’s CALL OF CTHULHU® roleplaying game appeared in 1981. It crept
out of the darkness to take an unsuspecting gaming world by surprise, offering a
whole new approach to role-playing. Gone
were the mighty monster stompers of the
fantasy role-playing genre and the fearless
travelers of the space lanes. Instead, the
CALL OF CTHULHU game (herein called
COC) offered player characters the dubious delights of insanity and death.
Like many at the time, I was skeptical of
the virtues of a game in which player
characters deteriorated rapidly instead of
steadily gaining in power and experience.
Who wants to play a game in which you
know that your character is either going
to die or become incarcerated in a dark
and dismal asylum for the insane? Not me,
I thought. But I was wrong. One game of
COC and I was hooked. No, more than
hooked—I was a fan who eagerly looked
forward to each new release from
Chaosium, Inc.
Since then, COC has continued to grow.
New editions of the rules appeared, and
additional supplements expanded the
options available to the Keepers of Arcane
Lore (as Game Masters in COC are called).
The fourth edition of COC was released
82 JUNE 1990
last year. Many of the older supplements
have recently been reformatted and rereleased. COC is strongly supported and
boasts some of the finest role-playing
supplements ever published.
This month we take a look at some of
the COC recent releases and re-releases.
But before moving on, mention must be
made of some of the excellent products
not covered in this review. In DRAGON®
issue #124, Ken Rolston reviewed the
Terror Australis supplement which provides background on Australia with three
adventures. Check it out; you won’t be
disappointed. In DRAGON issue #138, Ken
gave an excellent overview of COC and
contrasted it with other styles of roleplaying. He covered the COC supplements
Cthulhu Now and S. Petersen’s Field Guide
to Cthulhu Monsters, and gave them superb ratings.
CALL OF CTHULHU® game, fourth
edition
192-page perfect-bound book, eight pages
of color plates, large fold-out sizecomparisons chart
Chaosium, Inc.
$19.95
Design: Sandy Petersen
Additional text: Glenn Rahman, Lynn
Willis, John Sullivan, Alan K. Crandall,
William Hamblin, Keith Herber, Morgan
Conrad, Larry DiTillio, Harry Hendersen, H. P. Lovecraft, Steve Perrin, Charlie Krank, Richard Fichera, Joan
Carruth, Larry Press, and Tadashi
Ehara
Editing: Lynn Willis
Cover illustration: Tom Sullivan
Color plates: Les Edwards, Lee Gibbons,
Tom Sullivan, and Chris Marrinan
The fourth-edition COC book is a
weighty tome crammed full of rules, background information, adventures, and color
plates depicting Lovecraftian horrors in
vivid color. The plates are atmospheric and
evocatively convey the sanity-destroying
entities of H. P Lovecraft’s imagination.
The book also contains the bulk of the
Cthulhu Companion and Fragments of
Fear supplements. Few changes have been
made to the earlier editions or to the
aforementioned products. Instead, they
have been edited and integrated together.
New rules have been added to handle car
chases and knocking characters unconscious with one blow. Like the rest of the
COC system, the new rules are simple and
eminently playable. Also of interest are the
reproductions of cartoons that originally
appeared in The Space Gamer magazine.
These take a humorous look at COC and
also neatly summarize why COC is differ-
ent from other role-playing games.
The size comparisons fold-out from
Fragments of Fear is reproduced in the
back of the book. It shows at a glance the
sheer immensity of Cthulhu, Nyarlathotep,
Ithaqua, and the awesome dimensions of a
large dhole. The sizes of the smaller monsters are also readily apparent from the
human figures on the fold-out. The inclusion of Fragments of Fear also makes
available in one place all of the new spells
that have appeared in COC supplements
over the years.
Background: The fourth edition game
presents H. P. Lovecraft’s dark and macabre vision in a most satisfying way. It
places COC firmly in the 1920s, the period
when Lovecraft was writing. This not only
makes Lovecraft’s stories readily accessible
to Keepers and players, but also provides
some period charm. The world is recognizably our own, but its distance in time
adds to its appeal; this is the era of Prohibition and post-war reconstruction. Layered over the historical setting are the
monsters of Lovecraft’s somber vision.
There are things that man was not
meant to know, but in COC the brave (or
foolhardy) Investigators are constantly
brought into unequal conflict with those
things. Beings that defy the imagination
tower over small, inconsequential humans,
squashing them underfoot. Others horrors
are smaller in stature but no less dangerous. Ghouls, ghasts, daemons from beyond
space and time, and Elder Gods threaten
to destroy the earth. Between the monsters and the destruction of human life
stands only determined Investigators.
Mechanics: COC uses Chaosium’s Basic
Roleplay System. These elegant rules are
easy to use and allow for play to proceed
with a minimum of game-rule intrusion.
The system allows well-rounded characters to be created with a minimum of fuss
(an important feature considering that an
Investigator may last for only one game
session).
While the game system is simple and
elegant, its main strength and much of its
flavor lie in the sanity rules. It is taken for
granted that humanity is unable to fully
comprehend or deal with the myriad
horrors of the universe. COC brings the
reality of facing armies of slime-covered,
tentacle-waving monsters home, as in the
following:
Keeper: “It’s alive. It moves toward you.
Tentacles erupt from its surface.” (Characters in other games would be unleashing
their combined firepower at this point,
but not in COC.) “SAN checks, please!”
Frenzied dice rolling results as players
check their SAN (sanity) scores. Those
who make it are able to act. The ones who
fail find their sanity reduced, possibly
driving them insane as the shock has
proved too much for their fragile minds.
Two of the Investigators lie squirming on
the floor screaming for their mommies.
As the sane Investigators open fire at the
approaching monster, the Keeper chuckles
Continued on page 88
DRAGON
83
NOVEL
Continued from page 81
including 1988’s popular Starsong, from
TSR. Perhaps best known as a Western
writer, his Calamity Trail, Jubilation Gap,
Ride the Devil’s Trail, and A Man Called
Wolf, all from Zebra, have been acclaimed
by critics as “humorous classics.” He has
also ventured into historical fiction in his
Tall Ships Trilogy (Fox and the Faith, Fox
and the Fury, Fox and the Flag) from Pinnacle, seafaring novels of the American
Revolution.
Michael Williams, “the Bard of Krynn,”
reprises his character of Galen “Weasel”
Pathwarden, the reluctant hero of his
best-selling Weasel’s Luck, in Galen Beknighted, due out in December.
“One of the first things that happens in
the book,” according to Michael, “is that
Galen does indeed become a knight. That
may be surprising to readers of Weasel’s
Luck, in that Galen had never been very
favorably disposed to the Solamnic Knighthood to begin with. And yet he’s changed
in the two to three years since the end of
his first adventure. The poor guy really
does want to turn over a new leaf, and yet
at the same time people don’t take him
seriously, or they think that he’s up to his
old tricks.” Amidst this general scenario,
Sir Weasel’s favorite brother, Brithelm,
vanishes, and it’s up to the fledgling knight
to rescue him.
Rather than growing tired of his selfcreated, ne’er-do-well hero, Michael found
the experience quite exhilarating. “I think I
like the Weasel even better than I did
before. I was always kind of ambivalent
toward Solamnic Knights anyway, because
I thought there was a dimension of them
that was almost too goody-two-shoes. Here
in Galen Beknighted, while Galen really
wants to embrace those values, it’s the
same streak of self-righteousness he
encounters that really frustrates him.”
Michael’s advice to young writers:
“Marry well,” he says emphatically. “My
wife Teri has been extraordinarily helpful
to me. She’s probably the best and most
sympathetic critic I have, and my strongest work comes when I listen to her.”
Besides chronicling Galen’s latest misadventures for TSR, Michael has been developing his own trilogy, From Thief to King,
for Warner, the first title of which is to
appear late this year.
And that not only wraps up the slate for
DRAGONLANCE saga books for this year
but also wraps up this column. Watch this
space in the August issue, #160, when we
blast off for the 25th century.
DRAGON 85
NOTE: The dates in this column have been
changed to reflect the on-sale (not shipping)
dates for these products.
NEW PRODUCTS FOR JUNE
XXVc™: The Role-Playing Game
Boxed set
by Mike Pondsmith
The 25th century comes alive in this exciting
role-playing game from TSR! Players take their
characters on missions throughout the solar
system, helping Buck Rogers and his comrades
battle the forces of evil. Whether you’re new to
the hobby or a veteran role-player, the XXVc™
game will provide you with opportunities for
fun that you’ve never experienced before.
Suggested Retail Price: $24.95/£15.95
Product No.: 3562
SJA2 Skull and Crossbows
AD&D® SPELLJAMMER TM module
by Nigel Findley
Ship-crushing monsters, ghostly galleons
carrying loads of undead pirates, lich-driven
ships with hordes of alien parasites—all these
and more can be found in this, the second
module for the SPELLJAMMERTM campaign
setting. This book is a collection of short adventures and encounters for your PCs adventuring
in the SPELLJAMMERTM universe.
Suggested Retail Price: $8.95/£5.95
Product No.: 9286
PHBR3 Complete Priest’s Handbook
AD&D® 2nd Edition supplement
by Aaron Allston
Now get new, useful information to enliven
your PC priests! Included are over 60 priest kits
for worshipers of sun gods, gods of magic, gods
of law, and more. Plus, there are rules for
designing a mythos and tailoring the cleric class
to fit any mythos you select.
Suggested Retail Price: $15.00/£9.95
Product No.: 2113
Kaz, the Minotaur
DRAGONLANCE® saga Heroes II Trilogy,
Volume One
by Richard A. Knaak
After the defeat of the Dark Queen and the
death of Huma Dragonbane, Kaz hears rumors
of evil incidents. He returns to warn the Knights
of Solamnia—and is plunged into a dark nightmare of magic, danger, and deja-vu.
Suggested Retail Price: $4.95
Product No.: 8334
Night Watch
TSRTM Books
by Robin Wayne Bailey
All the fabled Seers of Greyhawk have been
killed on the same night, each by his own item
of divination, as a huge flock of ominous black
birds patrols the skies. All of this is dumped in
the lap of Garett Starlen, commander of the
night shift of Greyhawk’s City Watch, who
discovers that a web of evil is being drawn
tightly around the city.
Suggested Retail Price: $3.95
Product No.: 8213
NEW PRODUCTS FOR JULY
PHBR4 The Complete Wizard’s Handbook
AD&D® 2nd Edition supplement
by Rick Swan
If you thought you had the wizard class
figured out, think again! This invaluable reference book expands the realms of the wizard
class, with new character kits, ingenious uses
for common spells, and a vast array of new
information opening wide the doors for wizards
everywhere. Your wizard won’t be the same
again!
Suggested Retail Price: $15.00/£9.95
Product No.: 2115
RAVENLOFT™ campaign set
AD&D® 2nd Edition boxed set
by Bruce Nesmith
Enter the world of gothic horror and supernatural suspense with this set, which introduces
an entire line of horror products to delight and
terrify your PCs and their players! The
RAVENLOFT™ game world has rules all its own;
once your character enters it, he may never
leave—alive. Spice up your campaign with a
little horror!
Suggested Retail Price: $18.00/£11.95
Product No.: 1053
MC5 Monstrous Compendium, Vol. 6:
Kara-Tur appendix
AD&D® FORGOTTEN REALMS™
accessory
by Lots O’Folks
The strangest and deadliest monsters of the
Oriental realms of the FORGOTTEN REALMS™
campaign are brought together in this one
volume, ready to be unleashed into your campaign! This appendix fits into the second MC
binder (Vol. 4, DRAGONLANCE® saga monsters)
and describes the creatures of Kara-Tur down to
the last talon and fang, all in AD&D® 2nd Edition format.
Suggested Retail Price: $9.95/£6.50
Product No.: 2107
WGA2 Falconmaster
AD&D® GREYHAWK® module
by Richard and Anne Brown
In this sequel to WGA1 Falcon’s Revenge, the
city of Greyhawk is in danger as the Falcon is
loose within the walls. The PCs must try to
locate the Falcon’s lair as they search for the
menace, and they must be prepared for the
Falcon’s declaration of war—against the city
itself!
Suggested Retail Price: $8.95/£5.95
Product No.: 9289
25CA1 Buck Rogers in the 25th Century
BUCK ROGERS® module
by Doug Niles
This, the first adventure for the XXVc™ game,
takes your characters to the solar system’s most
wild, savage world—Earth! The arcologies of
southern California, with Newporg at their
head, have thrown off the shackles of RAM
influence. Or have they? Track down a traitor
through the LosAngelesorg sprawls to a deepsea genetics lab, then on to the orbital marketplace known as the New Frontier Bazaar.
Suggested Retail Price: $9.95/£6.50
Product No.: 3563
MU6 Gamer’s Handbook of the MARVEL
UNIVERSETM, Volume 6
MARVEL SUPER HEROES™ accessory
by Lots O’Folks
The newest and the best heroes and villains of
the MARVEL UNIVERSE™ are now ready to
wreak havoc in your campaign. This accessory
updates information from the ever-changing
world of the MARVEL SUPER HEROES™ game.
Find the stats for your favorite new hero, villain, or team in these pages. Don’t fall out of
touch with the best and the baddest!
Suggested Retail Price: $15.95/£9.95
Product No.: 6894
TSA2 The Final Weapon
TOP SECRET/S.I. TM module
by Ray Winninger
In this module, the Web has managed to
86 JUNE 1990
create several weapons, but only one can successfully aid their plans to take over the world.
This adventure allows the PCs to utilize a vast
arsenal of weapons to combat the deadly Web
menace. If there’s nothing you like better than a
blazing gun-battle, then this is for you!
Suggested Retail Price: $8.95/£5.95
Product No.: 7640
WORLD WAR II: European Theater of
Operations game
SPI™ game
by Doug Niles
This re-release of the most popular SPI™ game
has more counters and scenarios, and it sports a
new easy-to-learn rules format to recreate the
war in Europe and North Africa. Detailed rules
for air and naval combat, production, and
economics make this one of the best strategic
games available on the subject.
Suggested Retail Price: $39.95/
£29.95 + VAT
Product No.: 3029
Flint, the King
DRAGONLANCE® saga Preludes II
Trilogy, Volume Two
by Mary Kirchoff and Doug Niles
In this, the second book of the Preludes II
Trilogy, Flint returns to his boyhood village and
finds it a thriving boom town. But when he
learns the prosperity is a result of a false alliance between the hill dwarves and their enemies, Flint is captured. He is pushed into the
Beast Pit but is saved by the gully dwarves.
Having been made their king, Flint must mobilize them into an army to stop a fiendish plot.
Suggested Retail Price: $4.95
Product No.: 8332
MAGE STONES™ game
TSR strategy game
by Tom Kruszewski
Said to have been a favorite of the wizard
Raistlin of DRAGONLANCE® saga fame, this
brand-new game of strategy is filled with fast
action and fun. You place and move your stones
in a clever attempt to force the other players’
stones off the board. This game is easy to read
and quick to learn—even Caramon plays it!
Suggested Retail Price: $12.95/
£9.95 + VAT
Product No.: 1058
Unless otherwise noted:
® and ™ denote trademarks owned by TSR, Inc.
©1990 TSR, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
MARVEL SUPER HEROES and MARVEL UNIVERSE are
trademarks of the Marvel Entertainment Group, Inc. All
Marvel characters, names, and the distinctive likenesses
thereof are trademarks of the Marvel Entertainment Group,
Inc. ©1990 Marvel Entertainment Group, Inc. All Rights
Reserved.
BUCK ROGERS and XXVc are trademarks used under
license from The Dille Family Trust. ©1990 The Dille Family
Trust. All Rights Reserved.
Role-playing
Reviews
Continued from page 82
evilly as the bullets hit the horror with
dull thuds—and no effect. It flicks out a
tentacle; an Investigator is crushed. Those
Investigators still able to run now do so.
Another COC adventure has ended in
disaster for the Investigators.
The insanity or death of your character
may not seem like much of a reward for
participating in a role-playing game, but
COC is more about finding ways to overcome the dark horrors than about directly
confronting them. Well-written COC adventures allow Investigators to carefully
uncover clues and discover means of
offsetting some of the powers of the monsters. It is the detective work and the
accompanying role-playing which make
COC intriguing and fun. Sooner or later
you’re going to have face the dark thing in
the woods, but having some idea of what
it is may increase your chances of survival. Then again, it might not.
Magical spells and items can be discovered. Books containing ancient rituals an
information on the creatures of the Mythos crop up every now and then. Reading
them, may drive you insane, and many of
the spells have adverse side effects.
Make no mistake: COC captures the
horror flavor excellently. Player characters are often the victims but not always
so. Good play and luck can circumvent
many of the horrors and allow Investigators to triumph over the greatest evil the
world has ever known. The path to success is littered with dead and insane comrades, but the challenge and the need to
know draws the Investigators on. COC
provides big challenges and big thrills, and
it offers some of the finest role-playing
experiences available.
Adventures: The fourth edition contains enough adventures to keep any
group happily entertained and sanity
blasted. “The Haunted House,” the first
adventure, is simply written and fairly
short. It serves as an excellent introduction to the COC setting, featuring detective
work, the exploration of an old house, and
sufficient horrors to give the characters a
taste of things to come. I’ve run this adventure on numerous occasions as an
introduction to COC for new players.
Some have died horribly; others have
solved its secrets successfully. None have
failed to be hooked into playing more COC
games.
The other six adventures vary in length
and range from average to very good.
They are either drawn from a variety of
previously published supplements or else
appeared in earlier editions of the rules.
For groups that meet infrequently, these
adventures are an ideal length; some are
playable in an evening, and others take
several sessions to complete. After playing
a few of these, groups with more time will
be ready to tackle an extended campaign
such as Masks of Nyarlathotep.
Evaluation: If you don’t already play
COC, all I can do is urge you to give it a
try. I enjoy heroic games just as much as
anyone else, but I also like variety. A
change of approach and emphasis never
did anyone any harm. Try COC and discover for yourself why it has made so
many converts since its release.
Players already involved in COC will find
less in the fourth edition to recommend it.
If you own a second- or third-edition
game, the Cthulhu Companion (also incorporated in the third edition), and Fragments of Fear, you lack only the car-chase
rules and the improved layout of the three
books in one. The rest of the material has
received minor editing but no substantial
changes.
The fourth edition presents excellent
value for its cost. Don’t be put off by its
sheer. size; the bulk of the rules are covered in only 25 pages; the rest is background, monsters, spells, adventures, and
source material.
Masks of Nyarlathotep
CALL OF CTHULHU supplement
160-page perfect-bound book, with eight
pages of color plates
Chaosium, Inc.
$18.95
Design: Larry DiTillio and Lynn Willis
Editing: Lynn Willis
Cover illustration: Lee Gibbons
Color plates: Nick Smith, Keith Berdak,
Tom Sullivan, and Mark Roland
In this extended campaign, the Investigators are drawn into a titanic struggle
against Nyarlathotep, the Crawling Chaos
and Outer God. Following skillfully layered
clues, the Investigators are led from New
York across the globe to London, Cairo,
Kenya, or Shanghai. Along the way, they
are faced with some of the most powerful
and deadly adventures ever written. Death
and insanity stalk the Investigators at
every turn, but the superb narrative and
the tantalizing clues carry the Investigators along at a cracking pace. Sure, Investigators could cut and run at any time, but
as the clues and information build in intensity Investigators become driven to find
out more. The body count of Investigators
promises to be quite high by the end of
the adventure, but players are rewarded
by participating in a campaign that is an
acknowledged role-playing classic. The
bulk of material in Masks of Nyarlathotep
will keep gaming groups thrilled and horrified for months of playing time.
Masks of Nyarlathotep was originally
released as-a boxed set in 1984. The new
edition has been enhanced by the addition
of the eight pages of color plates and the
color cover. These depict scenes from the
adventure that greatly add to its impact.
The illustration of the Chakota, one of the
most repulsive creatures ever to appear in
a COC supplement, is nothing less than
superb—horrible, but superb.
Masks of Nyarlathotep contains first-rate
player character handouts. These are
rendered as newspaper clippings, handwritten letters, business cards, and even a
matchbox that can be folded into a facsimile of the real thing. The information they
contain both entice and inform Investigators of the forces and events with which
they must contend.
Evaluation: Masks of Nyarlathotep is
the epitome of COC adventures. It contains
detective work, action, and indescribable
horrors in all the right quantities. The
writing and editing are first class; the
adventures perfectly capture what COC is
all about. No one should be without a copy
of Masks of Nyarlathotep. Make sure you
put it at the top of your shopping list.
Cthulhu Classics
CALL OF CTHULHU supplement
152-page perfect-bound book
$18.95
Chaosium, Inc.
Design: Sandy Petersen, Scott Aniolowski,
John Carnahan, John Scott Clegg, Ed
Gore, David A. Hargrave, Marc Hutchinson, Doug Lyons, Randy McCall,
Mark Pettigrew, and Michael Szymanski
Editing: William Dunn, Lynn Willis, Sherman Kahn, Yurek Chodak, Sandy Petersen, and John B. Monroe
Cover illustration: Lee Gibbons
Color plates: Nick Smith and Tom Sullivan
Cthulhu Classics contains five previously
published adventures and the Shadows of
Yog-Sothoth campaign.
Shadows of Yog-Sothoth was the first
COC adventure published by Chaosium,
appearing in 1982 to a warm welcome. It
consists of seven adventures linked by the
activities of the Hermetic Order of the
Silver Twilight, whose ultimate aim is to
raise the sunken city of R’yleh from the
depths of the Pacific Ocean, thereby unleashing dread Cthulhu upon the world.
Shadows of Yog-Sothoth is a good campaign, but it is not as slickly written or
plotted as Masks of Nyarlathotep. The
links between the individual adventures
are much more forced than in Masks; the
adventures are Keeper controlled and led
instead of being layered into one another.
Having said that, the individual adventures
contain excellent scenes and can easily be
run as one-off adventures if the Keeper
doesn’t want to link them together. The
horror elements are well presented, and
the adventures span a wide variety of
locations and investigative approaches.
Opportunities for role-playing, investigation, and combat abound with nameless
DRAGON 89
horrors and the depraved cultists who
worship the creatures of darkness.
Adventures: The five adventures are
drawn from a variety of previously published sources. “The Warren” was a bonus
adventure in the original Shadows of YogSothoth. “The Pits of Bendal-Dolum” and
“The Temple of the Moon” were featured
in Terror From the Stars. “Dark Carnival”
appeared in Curse of the Chthonians, and
“The Secret of Castrenegro” was in the
Cthulhu Companion.
The adventures range from average to
good; “The Secret of Castrenegro” is the
best of the five, being set in a town in New
Mexico under the influence of a sinister
force. “Dark Carnival” and “The Warren”
are serviceable and contain some good
scenes, but as with most short COC adventures lack the deep layers of plot and
motivation found in Masks of Nyarlathotep
and Shadows of Yog-Sothoth. “The Pits of
Bendal-Dolum” and “The Temple of the
Moon” feature jungle expeditions; they are
too short on library research and investigation, and too high on unavoidable sanityblasting horrors for my taste. Though
solidly written, they fail to fire me with
the enthusiasm to actually play them. Even
so, they provide, a change of pace and
allow characters to step into Indiana
Jones-type adventures as they search for
lost ruins in the jungles of South America.
Evaluation: Cthulhu Classics offers a
good value. The color plates and cover are
excellent. While I have reservations about
some of the adventures, the inclusion of
Shadows of Yog-Sothoth makes it worth
buying. For those groups that don’t have
time to undertake larger campaigns, the
five short adventures will come in very
handy. And just in case you missed it earlier, Masks of Nyarlathotep is the one to
buy and play first. It may spoil you, but
we all deserve to be pampered.
The Great Old Ones
CALL OF CTHULHU supplement
176-page perfect-bound book
Chaosium, Inc.
$17.95
Design: Marcus L. Rowland, Kevin A. Ross,
Harry Cleaver, Doug Lyons, L. N. Isynwill, and E. C. Fallworth
Additional material: Lynn Willis, William
Dunn, and John B. Monroe
Editing: Lynn Willis
Cover illustration: Tom Sullivan
The Great Old Ones is a collection of six
new adventures. Five of the adventures
deal with the activities of a particular
Great Old One; the sixth features an avatar
of an Outer God who is intent on entering
the earth. The adventures may be linked
together to form a loose campaign, but the
linkages are very basic and only provide
rationales on how they can be best used in
sequence. No plot threads continue from
adventure to adventure, making them
suitable for use as independent
adventures-both a strength and a weakness. While having a Cthulhoid monster
lurking in every adventure in epic cam-
paigns such as Masks of Nyarlathotep and
Shadows of Yog-Sothoth is eminently feasible, it is less plausible to have them crop
up every time the Investigators look into
phenomena in the United States. The
strength of this book comes from the
variety of adventures available.
The Great Old Ones count great Cthulhu
within their number, as well as entities
such as Glaaki, Hastur, Tsathoggua, and
Yig. These beings are worshiped by their
followers on earth and possess almost
godlike powers. Apart from that, they are
vary greatly from one another. The book
opens with a pseudo-scientific essay on
what is known about the Great Old Ones
and how they differ from the more powerful Outer Gods of the Mythos. Research
has lamentably stagnated since H. P. Lovecraft’s pioneering work; only August Derleth continued Lovecraft’s researches, but
even today we know little about the Great
Old Ones’ motivations and powers. This
section sets the scene for the rest of the
book by maintaining the mystery of Lovecraft’s creations.
The first adventure, “The Spawn,” takes
place in New Mexico and draws the adventurers into the mysterious disappearance
of an organizer for the ‘Wobblies,” or
International Workers of the World, as
they were formally known. The adventure
mixes detective work and role-playing
with subterranean exploration in a convincing and entertaining manner. The fear
of harassment by human agents and the
“underground” status of the Wobblies at
this time requires the Investigators to keep
a low profile if they are to avoid being
driven out of town. It’s a good adventure
that mixes politics with Cthulhoid horror.
The second adventure, “Still Waters,” is
less successful. Spooky houses have long
been a staple of COC adventures. My
enthusiasm for “The Haunted House” in
the COC rules does not extend to every
scenario set in and around a house. Once
you’ve played one spooky house, you’ve
played them all, unless they are integral to
a more extended adventure.
“Tell Me Have You Seen The Yellow
Sign?” is larger in scope and makes use of
a wide variety of locations. Set in New
Orleans during Mardi Gras, it contains
plenty of color and detective work. It also
makes good use of Lovecraft’s “The Call of
Cthulhu” short story as a source of settings and background.
Gangsters and unknowable horrors
provide the basis of “One In Darkness.”
The adventure is neatly executed and, as
in “The Spawn,” it’s refreshing to see the
introduction of non-Mythos elements into
the story structure.
“The Pale God” draws on Ramsey Campbell’s story “Before the Storm” for its inspiration and setting. Players who have read
the story may find their enjoyment of the
adventure marred as a result. Nonetheless,
the adventure has enough unsettling incidents and mystery to keep Investigators
entertained.
“Bad Moon Rising,” the last adventure, is
the star of the show. Like a full moon it
shines brightly, and it includes some of the
finest plot twists ever to appear in a
shorter COC adventure. Set in England, it
starts off simply enough but rapidly escalates into an adventure of wondrous proportions. To find out just what happens,
you’ll have to play it. I promise you won’t
be disappointed.
Evaluation: The Great Old Ones is a
useful addition to the COC range. The
inclusion of “Bad Moon Rising” is reason
enough to purchase this book. With the
exception of “Still Waters,” the other adventures stand up well, making The Great
Old Ones a good source of adventures for
Keepers.
Gaslight
CALL OF CTHULHU supplement
128-page perfect-bound book, with six
pages of color plates and a two-color
fold-out map
Chaosium, Inc.
$18.95
Design: William A. Barton
Editing: Sandy Petersen and Lynn Willis
Cover illustration: Tom Sullivan
Color plates: Lee Gibbons, Chris Marrinan,
Dean Morrisey, Nick Smith, and Tom
Sullivan
There is something enticing about the
streets of Victorian London. Maybe it’s the
gaslights. Maybe it’s the fog. Or maybe it’s
the way the great wealth of the middle
and upper classes contrasts starkly with
the crushing poverty of London’s working
classes. Whatever it is, the Victorian era
makes an ideal setting for COC adventuring. Through its streets stalked Jack the
Ripper, Count Dracula, Sweeny Todd, Mr.
Hyde, and Professor Moriarty.
Gaslight perfectly captures the flavor
and mood of the times, taking COC into a
previous age. This supplement was originally published in 1986 as a boxed set. All
the material in the boxed set has been
retained, and some new information has
been added, including an essay on world
politics, a guide to London stores, and a
listing of Cockney underworld slang for
Keepers to slip into the mouths of criminal
NPCs. New maps show the British Museum, the Tower of London, Westminster
Abbey, and Sherlock Holmes’s residence at
221B Baker Street.
Gaslight gives an excellent overview of
the period and new character creation
rules for Victorian adventurers. Included
are essays on social class, occupations,
crime, cost of living, the government, the
monarchy, and the occult. London is described and is ‘depicted on the fold-out
map at the back of the book.
Ways of transporting Investigators from
later eras are neatly detailed, along with
the kind of problems they are likely to
encounter in Victorian London. The world
of Sherlock Holmes, including a list of his
most famous cases, is described, and provision is made for those Keepers who
want to include the works of H. G. Wells in
their adventures.
“The Yorkshire Horrors,” a 46-page adventure included in the book, lets Investigators join forces with Sherlock Holmes to
look into the murder accusation hanging
over Sherlock’s brother. Information is
provided for Keepers who have no desire
to include Sherlock Holmes in the adventure; it’s just a case of changing the names.
The adventure takes the Investigators to
Yorkshire where they slowly uncover the
truth. “The Yorkshire Horrors” is a good
period piece for COC. It’s lengthy and
develops well as the clues pile up, and
there are plenty of opportunities for players to exercise their role-playing skills in
Victorian society.
Evaluation: Gaslight is another excellent COC product. However, the 1920s
remains Chaosium’s preferred setting for
COC adventures. “The Yorkshire Horrors”
is the only adventure available for Gaslight. Fortunately, standard 1920s adventures can be easily converted to the earlier
setting with only a bit of work. After all,
it’s only 30 years earlier. With this slight
reservation, Gaslight comes with my highest recommendation. Anyone interested in
adventuring in the Age of Victoria should
snap up a copy.
H. P. Lovecraft’s Dreamlands
CALL OF CTHULHU supplement
136-page perfect-bound book, with three
pages of color plates and a large two-
color fold-out map
Chaosium, Inc.
$18.95
Design: Sandy Petersen, Keith Herber, K.
L. Campbell-Robson, Scott Clegg,
Richard T. Launius, Mark Morrison,
Phil Frances, Lynn Willis, Susan
Hutchinson, Jacqueline Clegg, and Jeff
Okamoto
Editing: Sandy Petersen and Lynn Willis
Cover illustration: Raymond Bayless
Color plates: Tom Sullivan and Mark
Roland
From the Victorian era to the world of
dreams is only one short step. H. P Lovecraft’s Dreamlands recreates the dream
reality of stories such as “The Dreamquest
of Unknown Kadath,” “Celephais,” and
“The Cats Of Ulthar.” Investigators can
enter into a wondrous world, but that
world is also populated by its fair share of
dark horrors. Dreamlands first appeared
as a boxed set in 1986; this book edition
replaces the boxed set and has been
graced with color plates. Dreamlands
presents two new skills for use in the
Dreamlands and describes the lands various areas. New spells for use only in the
Dreamlands are extensively described,
along with the creatures that inhabit this
fabulous world.
The meat of this book is dedicated to
providing high-quality adventures for COC
Investigators. The first, “To Sleep, Per-
chance To Dream,” introduces Investigators to the possibilities of the Dreamlands.
It leads them into the Enchanted Wood
and beyond to the city of Ulthar. Here they
can marvel at its wonders and use their
new skills.
“Captives Of Two Worlds” is an adventure that spans the real world and the
Dreamlands. Investigators discover that
the Dreamlands can also be of use as a
source of information in the course of
their normal adventures.
The third adventure, “Pickman’s Student” again takes the adventurers into the
Dreamlands. It’s an excellent blending of
horror and the Dreamlands.
“Season Of The Witch” involves a witch
who was executed centuries before, and
now bides her time in the Dreamlands
waiting for a chance to strike back at the
real world. As the time draws near, the
Investigators enter the scene to stop her.
The three previous adventures span the
waking and the dreaming world; “Lemon
Sails” takes place entirely in the Dreamlands. It takes the Investigators on a quest
to aid a resident of the Dreamlands.
The final adventure, “The Land of Lost
Dreams,” neatly blends horror with dream
reality and the Investigators’ deepest fears
and past failings. It requires players who
really get into role-playing their characters, but it promises to be a very special
adventure for those that do.
Evaluation: H. P. Lovecraft’s Dreamlands greatly expands the options available
to Keepers. Its resemblance to a fantasy
world allows Keepers to let their Investigators enjoy a change of pace and emphasis.
Rather than merely dwell on its fantastic
aspect, the adventure authors have expertly integrated the horror of COC with
the strange dream reality. Dreamlands is
yet another great COC supplement.
S. Petersen’s Field Guide to Creatures of the Dreamlands
CALL OF CTHULHU supplement
64-page perfect-bound book, with 30 pages
of color plates
Chaosium, Inc.
$15.95
Design: Sandy Petersen
Editing and additional design: Lynn Willis
Illustrations: Mark J. Ferrari
This book is slickly produced and beautifully illustrated. Written by COC game
designer Sandy Petersen, it takes a
pseudo-academic look at the creatures that
inhabit the Dreamlands. You’ll find no
gaming stats within its pages—just short
descriptions of the creatures as though
written by a student of medieval metaphysics. But these are fun to read. Best of all
are the illustrations by Mark J. Ferrari,
which are nothing short of excellent.
Evaluation: S. Petersen’s Field Guide to
Creatures of the Dreamlands is a book
that anyone who likes excellent artwork
should have in their collection. The fullpage plates are superb. They are also
useful for showing to players as their
Investigators encounter these creatures.
CALL OF CTHULHU game products are
available from Chaosium, Inc., 950A 56th
St., Oakland CA 94608, U.S.A.
SUPPORT YOUR LOCAL
GAME CONVENTION!
A game convention is the perfect
place to make new friends who enjoy the same hobbies you do —
whether you like board games,
role-playing games, miniature war
games, or just shopping around. If
you’ve never attended a game convention before, please check out
the Convention Calendar feature in
this issue for the game convention
nearest you. Take some of your own
gaming friends along, too — and
make it an experience to remember.
Convention Calendar
Continued from page 79
I-KHAN, July 20-22
This convention will be held at the Holiday
Inn North in Colorado Springs, Colo. Special
guest of honor will be Andrew J. Offutt. Tournaments include AD&D®, WARHAMMER 40,000*,
CAR WARS*, SKY GALLEONS OF MARS*, and
BATTLETECH* games. Other activities include
open gaming, a movie room, a pre-1960s movie
theme costume contest, a dealers’ room, a
miniatures-painting contest, and our own version of Highlander: Registration: $10 before
June 20; $15 thereafter, plus a $1 fee per event.
Write to: Miniatures Wargamers Guild, 2354 S.
Academy Blvd., Colorado Springs CO 80916; or
call Perry Rogers at (719) 392-2656.
CONJUNCTION, July 27-29
This convention will take place at New Hall
College, Cambridge, England. The guest of
honor will be Gregory Stafford. Events include
no game tournaments, but there will be panels,
a masquerade, films, and a dealers’ area. There
will also be combat demonstrations, live-action
role-playing, PBMs, workshops, and a real ale
bar. Membership is £12 for those over 18. Write
to: CONJUNCTION, 27 Terront Road, London
N15 3AA, UNITED KINGDOM; or call John
Dallman at: 01-802-8723.
OKON ‘90, July 27-29
The region’s largest SF convention will be held
at the Camelot Hotel in Tulsa, Okla. Guests of
honor include Hal Clement, Tom Kidd, Mark
Simmons, David Lee Anderson, and Brad Sinor.
Events include AD&D®, CHAMPIONS*, WARHAMMER 40,000*, STAR FLEET BATTLES*, and
CAR WARS* games. Write to: OKON, PO. Box
4229, Tulsa OK.
DARCON I, July 28
Sponsored by Darkstar Fantasy Concepts, this
convention will be held at the Hillbrow Recreation Center in Johannesburg, South Africa.
Events include AD&D® and SF games, various
tournaments, and a dealers’ room. Registration:
R5 per player. Write to: DFC DARCON I, Evan
Dempsky, 24 Vincent Rd., Rosettenville-ext,
Johannesburg(Tvl), R.S.A., 2197.
GFR ROLEPLAYER DAYS ‘90, July 28-29
The Gilde der Fantasyrollenspieler proudly
presents this convention at the Burgerschafthaus, Gorlinger Zentrum 15, Cologne (Koln),
West Germany. Many games will be featured.
Registration: DM 6/day or DM 10/weekend.
Write to: GTR, c/o Bernd Streckman, Bruchstr.
48, 4030 Ratingen 1, West Germany.
DALLASCON ‘90, August 3-5
The southwest’s largest gaming convention
will be held at the Le Baron Hotel on Regal Row
in Dallas, Tex. Tournaments include AD&D® and
BATTLETECH* games. Other activities include
WARHAMMER*, SHADOWRUN*, CHAMPIONS*,
AXIS & ALLIES*, and ROLEMASTER* games, as
well as seminars, an auction, a painting contest,
and a dealers’ room. Send an SASE to: DALLASCON ‘90, P.O. Box 867623, Plano TX 75086.
FAMILYCON I, August 3-5
This family-oriented convention will be held at
the Holiday Inn in Timomium, Md. Activities
include a dealers’ room, hands-on science programming, and SF and fantasy panels for all
ages. Write to: FAMILYCON, 3309 Taney Rd.,
Baltimore MD 21215.
I-CON I, August 3-5
Victoria’s first SF convention will be held at
the Ramada Inn in Victoria, B.C., Canada. Guests
of honor include Michael G. Coney, Donna Barr,
and Nichelle Nichols. Events include panels, an
art show-and auction, videos, gaming, a writers’
workshop, art and costuming demonstrations, a
diplomatic reception, a masquerade, two
dances, a dealers’ room, and live theatre. Registration: $25 Canadian ($23 U.S.) until June 15;
and $30 Canadian ($28 U.S.) thereafter. Dealers
are welcome. Write to: I-CON, PO. Box 30004,
104-3995 Quadra St., Victoria, B.C., CANADA
V8X 5E1; or call: (604) 389-1123.
94 JUNE 1990
OMACON X, August 3-5
This pro-space, gaming, and comic convention
will be held at the Holiday Inn Central in
Omaha, Neb., and is sponsored by Nebraskans
for the Advancement of Space Development.
Guests of honor include Rick Sternbach, John
Ford, Bjo Trimble, and Art Bozlee. Write to:
OMACON, PO. Box 37851, Omaha NE 68137.
CAPITOL-CON VI, August 4-5
This event will be held at the Sacred HeartGriffin High School in Springfield, Ill. Featured
events include board and miniatures war gaming, FRPGs, vendors, and a used-game auction.
Write to: Bill Wilson, 99 Cottonwood Dr., Chatham IL 62623; or call (217) 483-5797 or (217)
523-0916.
1990 GEN CON® Game Fair, August 9-12
Make your plans ROW to attend the biggest
and best game convention of them all, at the
MECCA Convention Center, Milwaukee, Wis.
We’ve pulled in over 10,000 people for two
years running! Write to: 1990 GEN CON® Game
Fair, P.O. Box 756, Lake Geneva WI 53147.
BATTLETECH*: OPERATION
FLAG, August 11-12
GREEN
This mid-Atlantic regional BATTLETECH*
convention is the first official FASA-sanctioned
tournament to be held at the Central Penn
Business School in Summerdale, Pa. Featured
will be a vigorous round-robin and four-person
lance competitions. Open gaming will also be
available both days. Registration: $8-12, depending on the date of registration. Attendance is
limited. Write to: M. Foner’s Games Only Emporium, 200 Third St., New Cumberland PA 17070;
or call: (717) 774-6676.
GAME-FEST XI, August 15-19
This 11th-annual convention will be held in
historic Old Town in San Diego, Calif. The over
50 gaming events include AD&D®, D&D®,
AVALON HILL CLASSICS*, BATTLETECH*, CAR
WARS*, TMN TURTLES*, WARHAMMER
40,000*, MONOPOLY*, and AXIS & ALLIES*
games, with painting shows and more. Registration: $20 before August 10 (includes coupon
book for on-site purchases), or $30 at the door.
Write to: GAME-FEST XI, 3954 Harney St., San
Diego CA 92110; or call (619) 291-1666.
96 JUNE 1990
DRAGON 97
The Rules
Continued from page 70
comer to an AD&D game has read Tolkien,
you could say that that Aragorn was lawful good, Frodo was neutral good, and Tom
Bombadil and Galadriel exemplify two
different views of chaotic goodness. Similar archetypes appear in most fantasy
literature.
New characters should always be good
aligned. Only a skillful role-player can
portray a villain without behaving like a
psychopath, and new players usually feel
uncomfortable about willfully choosing to
be “evil.” Do not make lawful or good
alignments sound prudish. Almost all
fictional heroes, even dashing scoundrels,
would have been good guys in fantasy
games. Use Robin Hood as an example.
New players should not buy equipment
before the adventure; they seldom know
what a mace is, much less a bec-de-corbin.
Instead, let each character buy what he
wants after the game begins. The PCs
should probably begin in a small town,
where they can buy equipment without
the distraction a city offers. This not only
starts the game faster, it lets new players
discover for themselves what they will
need. It also lets them experiment with
role-playing without endangering the
entire party. If the new PC teases a shopkeeper, he may have to borrow somebody
else’s iron spikes. If the new PC insults a
dragon, everybody in the party might get
roasted.
When the player has a character, either
newly rolled or pregenerated, analyze its
strengths and weaknesses aloud. For example, “You’re strong and clever, but
somewhat unattractive. This character
might make a good warrior? Usually, one
or two sentences is enough. However, if
the new player seems interested in your
description, you might add some background from your campaign, such as: “You
were born in the Barbarous Plains. That
makes you an unsurpassed horseman—
and a fierce-warrior.”
On with the game!
Try to start the game within 20 minutes.
If the new player still seems confused, just
say, “Tell me what your character wants to
do.” As the new player watches more
experienced players role-play, he will
probably begin to understand the game.
New players often try to wheedle hints
from the GM. If this occurs, keep him
from becoming frustrated, but make it
clear that PCs have to solve their own
problems. When the new PC is in a party
with experienced adventurers, get them to
give advice to the new guy. If nobody in
the party can help, try to have an NPC
provide the answer or at least make up
some reason to offer information. Maybe
the new PC heard a bards song about a
similar situation or was warned about it as
an apprentice. Most people learn board
100 JUNE 1990
games by making random moves whenever it is their turn, thus gradually finding
out what the rules allow. In role-playing
games, this “turn” may never come. Whenever a new player seems ignored, the GM
should ask the newcomer what action his
character wants to take. If possible, force
the new PC to do something heroic—alone.
During the game, a new player will face
most typical game processes, such as combat tables, “plusses to hit,” and terms such
as “PC,” “NPC,” “player,” and “GM” or “DM.”
Keep the game going, but give a short
explanation of each such concept. Usually
a sentence is enough, such as: “This is the
eight-sided die.” Explain dice mechanics as
early as possible, including percentile rolls
and abbreviations (like “3d6”).
New players learn best by playing,
whether they completely understand the
rules or not. Once the new player feels
comfortable role-playing, you may introduce more complex rules. You can start by
showing the entire party the module they
just explored (assuming you aren’t going to
use it again). All players, new and old,
enjoy hearing about things that might
have happened and how clever they were
to evade the many enemies who opposed
them. This also gives you an excuse to talk
about spells, treasure, maps, monsters,
game balance, and all other features of a
typical adventure. However, avoid talking
too much or giving more answers than the
new player wants. Keep the new player
interested!
After the first adventure, new players
need personalized characters. They know
enough to use one properly now and
should start accumulating memories and
experience points. If you used a prerolled
character, take it back and help your student roll up a new one if he wants (or let
him keep the prerolled one and play that if
he likes it). Even when the new player has
already rolled up a character, he will need
statistics for height, weight, and anything
else you ignored before. Let the new
player know that a PC leads an imaginary
life in your campaign world and exists
even when not adventuring. Give a new
PC a history, friends, enemies, and living
expenses.
A new player becomes an expert by
glancing through the rule books, turning
rules and ideas into a vision of the game. If
you dare, lend new players your rule
books. Otherwise, let them skim rules
during slow parts of the game or arrange
a trip to some bookstore that allows
browsing. You can also recommend fiction
that represents your campaign. Be ready
to suggest which books the new player
should buy, but remember that newcomers are usually not ready to spend
much money. New players will probably
not use anything more than the rule books
allowed for players to use. Of course, a
beginner can play with nothing but dice.
Special warning: Be aware that the
AD&D game is not an “advanced” version
of the D&D® game. Some people recom-
mend that novice AD&D game players
learn the D&D Basic Set rules first. However, these are two entirely different
games, each quite complex but not using
the same rules system. Either one is fine in
itself, but confusing them will only lead to
serious frustration later! Similar problems
might exist with other game systems that
were revised in later editions—e.g., Game
Designers’ Workshop’s TRAVELLER®,
MEGATRAVELLER®, and the sincerenamed TRAVELLER: 2300™ games (the
latter now being the 2300 AD™ game).
Know your rules!
When you introduce the rules, avoid
scaring beginners with gargantuan piles of
books. Newcomers should respect the
rules but not feel compelled to memorize
them. You can compare role-playing rules
to the Chance and Community Chest cards
in Parker Brothers’ MONOPOLY® game;
players must obey them but do not have to
study each one in advance. New players
should know that role-playing games constantly change and expand. Explain that
since players want rules for anything that
might ever happen, new guidelines will
always be possible. You might even encourage beginners to design optional rules
of their own. This can mollify players who
envy the GM’s license to “cheat.”
There are certain mistakes that almost
all beginners make, and GMs should watch
for and correct these. For example: In the
AD&D and D&D game systems, remind
newcomers that lower armor classes are
more protective; therefore, a suit of plate
mail + 1 actually subtracts one point from
the wearer’s armor class. Also, emphasize
that shields improve a character’s armor
class by one—not reduce it to - 1. New
players need to know that “monster” often
means nothing more than “NPC” —any
nonplayer character.
When a game uses foreign currencies or
imaginary money, watch moneychanging
closely. Most new players have a very hard
time converting gold pieces to silver or
dollars to francs. Some GMs just call gold
pieces “dollars,” but if you let new players
develop a habit of this, they will probably
never stop, and that makes the game seem
slightly less realistic.
The novice adventure
A new player forms countless prejudices
and expectations during the first game.
You should use this opportunity to shape
the new player into the sort of gamer you
want in your campaign. Use a wide variety
of challenges and settings. If the entire
adventure takes place underground, a
newcomer might not understand that any
surface world exists.
The first adventure must accomplish
three things. First, it should demonstrate
the game. This is why you need a varied
assortment of encounters. Second, it
should summarize your campaign world.
Let the new PCs meet important NPCs and
expose them to the stories, geographical
features, etc., of your milieu. Third, it
should build expectations for the next
game. The new players should face some
exciting challenge and overcome it. Do not
let the new player PCs fail, because in the
first game it is more important for new
players to feel triumphant than to enforce
every rule of game balance. Have the
beginners find a small reward; even a few
silver coins will excite them. Then make
them anticipate even better successes. Let
them learn about magical items to lust for
and expensive luxuries that they would
buy if only they were rich. PCs will pursue
these things for lifetimes.
The first adventure should have a simple
plot. Since the new players do not understand the rules yet, they should not have
to concentrate on understanding your
storyline. This innocence lets you use all
the fun tricks that experienced players
might consider hackneyed. New players
feel proud to be hired by the village chieftain, and animated skeletons still terrify
them. Fantasy-game GMs could also see
the introductory D&D modules B11 King’s
Festival and B12 Queen’s Harvest for other
novice-level adventure ideas.
The GM cannot tell a new player every
thing, and new players remember things
much more completely when they teach
themselves. Unfortunately, most rule
books assume that their readers can roleplay. Therefore, this article includes a
short introduction to role-playing in the
following section. Have the new player
read this section, and if he becomes interested in a game, so much the better!
How to play
Most games simulate something people
want to do. Perhaps they recreate emotions, like triumph. Maybe they demand
certain skills, like military strategy. Chess,
for example, is almost exactly like war.
And there is a type of game, called a roleplaying game, which tries to simulate all of
life. The players assume the parts of characters in a story, and all of their experiences are played out in conversation.
Playing a role-playing game is like creating
a fantasy, science-fiction, or adventure
story from the players’ imaginations. The
characters that the players control have a
task or conflict to resolve during each
game session. The game, like life, does not
always end with a winner or a loser. Some
game sessions end well, with the players
getting what they want, but others prove
to be more difficult.
The setting and plot of an RPG session
are invented by one player—the game
master, or GM. The GM prepares long
before the game by making up the plot
and goals of the story. Work like this is
much like writing fiction—but the GM
does not decide how it will end. The GM
draws a map of the imaginary area where
the game is supposed to take place and
writes a description of various locations
on the map, as if for an encyclopedia. One
place might be a tomb guarded by evil
spirits, while another might be a peaceful
102 JUNE 1990
farm. The GM will reuse this map in many
games. In this way, a campaign develops—
a continuing plot with a consistent theme,
like a long novel.
As mentioned, the other players take the
roles of characters in the story. It is important to distinguish between “players” and
“characters.” A player is a real person who
plays the game. A character is one of the
people in the story. The characters that
the players control are called player characters, or PCs. Everybody else in the story
is invented and controlled by the GM.
These people are called non-player characters, or NPCs.
You play an RPG by talking. The GM
describes the background for the story
and what each PC sees and hears. After
considering this, the players tell the GM
what they want their characters to do;
these actions can be anything that a real
person might do. The GM then describes
the results. By using the map, the rule
books, and common sense, the GM tells
the players where their PCs are and what
happens to them.
At some point, a character will want to
do something that he might not be able to
do. For example, if a PC shoots an arrow at
a target, he might ‘hit or miss. Dice rolls are
used to simulate these chances. The results
are compared with tables that show how
difficult these feats are. Ideally, there would
be tables for everything a PC might ever do
in a game. Some game systems have an
incredible number of rule books and gaming materials. Many beginning players
complain that this is too much to read. The
truth is, almost nobody knows all the rules.
Players have their PCs do whatever they
want and look up rules when they are
needed. Creating a believable, exciting tale
is more important than following the
books. Often, a GM is forced to invent new
rules to cover unique situations.
Different sorts of dice appear in various
role-playing games. These dice often do not
have pips—dots showing what number you
have rolled. Rather, each die face has an
Arabic digit, such as 2 or 19. The most
commonly used dice have four, six, eight,
ten, twelve, and twenty sides. (Ten-sided
dice are sometimes numbered zero (10)
through nine.) In descriptions of roleplaying, dice rolls are often abbreviated
with the letters “D” or “d.” Notations on dice
rolls usually involve two parts. First is a
number showing the number of rolls to be
made, then a number showing how many
sides that the dice to be rolled must have.
Rolling 3d6 means rolling three six-sided
dice and adding the results from each die
into a total score. Dice rolls can also be
abbreviated by giving the range of the
appropriate die; for example, a roll of 1d6
is often abbreviated 1-6, and 2d12 is 2-24.
There are also references to d100 or
percentile dice, which are used to generate a number between one and 100. Two
ten-sided dice are usually used, of two
different colors. One color is the tens die.
and the other is the ones die. The same die
can also be rolled twice, first for the tens
digit, then for the ones digit. Thus, if the
first roll is a 3 and the next roll is a 2, the
number generated is 32. If the first number was 0 and the second was 3, the result
is 3. Rolls of 0 and 0 represent 100. Percentile rolls are useful when a chance is
expressed as a percent. If a PC has a 60%
chance of swimming, 1d100 is rolled. If
the number is above 60, the character
cannot swim; if the roll is 60 or below, the
character can. Percentile dice are also
used to roll large random numbers.
Before the game, players fill out character sheets which describe their PCs. There
are many things to know about a character. Is he strong, weak, clever, or stupid?
What sort of skills does the character
have? Some of these things are determined
by rolling dice, and others are selected by
the player.
Basic attributes like strength, intelligence, and dexterity are called ability
scores, and one generates them by rolling
dice. A PC is trained for a certain profession, such as fighter, thief, or magic-user
in fantasy games. The player may choose
what sort of job his character is trained
for. In many games, PCs might not be
human, so a player may also get to choose
his PC’s race, such as elf, dwarf, or gnome.
As a PC plays the game, he will gain experience and become more skilled at whatever he does. Experience is measured in
experience points, which are awarded for
completing successful adventures. When a
character has enough experience points,
he may gain levels, increasing his personal
powers. High-level characters often gain
new skills and can improve their old ones.
The same character can be reused in
many adventures. Eventually, characters
develop complete histories, as if they were
real people.
Dice, rule books, and paper are the only
equipment needed for playing RPGs. Some
players collect tiny lead figurines which
resemble their characters. These are
props and can be moved around to simulate what is happening in an adventure.
However, you do not need figures to play.
Although fantasy games are used most
often here in examples, role-playing games
have been written to recreate adventures
of all sorts, including stories involving
medieval fantasy and ancient mythology,
modern espionage, postnuclear ruins,
science-fiction starships, Vietnam war
patrols, 1920s gangsters, and cartoon
comedies. The rules for different games
will vary, and few will use the same terms,
rules, and equipment. But if you can play
one RPG, you can play any of them.
The most important rule for learning
how to play an RPG is this: If you don’t
know, ask. You can learn any RPG by
watching how the other players act in the
game, but always feel free to ask questions. The more you know about a game,
the better you can play it and the more
fun you’ll have.
And the fun is worth it, too.
How not to run a miniatures campaign
©1990 by Robert Bigelow
I have received many letters asking what
became of the campaign for FASA’s
BATTLETECH® game that we featured in
DRAGON® issue #144. Many asked for
rules sets and guidelines so the writers
could launch campaigns of their own.
Regretfully, the campaign no longer exists
in the form presented last year. When we
set up the game, everything was geared
toward C-bills, using the guidelines that
FASA had published. The game went along
very well for a while, then hit the proverbial stone wall. By the time everyone had
finished their first six contracts, the paperwork and math was enough to ruin
anyone’s day. At that point, we stopped the
campaign and are now about to get a
simpler version running.
The best possible game using miniatures
is often a campaign game. This forces
players to use strategy instead of banzai
tactics. A player who wins battles by
throwing sheer numbers into the fight
usually will not be able to win the longterm game because his army is gutted
early on. Even though campaign games
look easy, successful campaigns depend on
sound rules and planning to succeed. The
following are the simplest rules:
Rule #1: The most important rule of any
miniatures campaign is to be as completely
familiar with the material as possible, as
well as the history, rules, time period, and
ideas behind the campaign. As the judge,
you should always have as much general
knowledge as any of the players. You
probably will get stumped on some specific questions as nobody can know everything about a specific period or game. But
if you try to buffalo people, your campaign is doomed before it begins. Also
know your players and how they act before starting. This will allow you to anticipate problems and avoid them.
Rule #2: Also important is the use of the
KIS principle, a handy rule of thumb that
means “keep it simple.” The harder you
make the game, the faster it will come to a
screeching halt. Complexity often leads to
more interesting and accurate games, but
the more complex it is, the more time
104 JUNE 1990
someone has to spend on paperwork and
stats, and the less time he gets to play.
Unless you can hire a general staff for
everyone, don’t make a campaign that
requires one.
Rule #3: Have more than one judge
whenever possible. Campaigns can die
very quickly with only one judge. If that
judge is sick or has other commitments, it
can mean long-term or frequent game
interruptions. After this happens a few
times, gamers might quit out of frustration, and you will either have to start the
campaign over or find new people who
must be brought up to speed. To avoid
this, never start a campaign unless there
are either multiple judges or a backup
system. In our new BATTLETECH rampaign, there are two judges, both of whom
can play, and army additions must be
approved by the judges or two members
of opposing houses. The builder does not
have to report where he is putting his
additions; he just tells what he wishes to
build. This system forces the individual to
pay more attention to what he is creating,
and the houses pay closer attention to the
game as they might one day have to fight
the unit being created. Very few mistakes
are made or missed with this set-up.
Rule #4: Make sure that any forms that
are needed for the campaign are available
in abundance. As a rule of thumb, you
should have enough forms on hand for
set-up and six months use. This also leads
handily into the next item.
Rule #5: Figure out a budget for the
campaign and get the money needed for
any printing, scenery, buildings, etc. before you start. It has been my experience
that everyone wants to play and promises
to pay—until it is time to “ante up” after
the game has started. Failure to have these
funds can be the death of your game.
Rule #6: Make sure that the sides are
even. This is one of the most important
parts of any campaign. Pick some form of
point system or means of evaluating units
and make sure that everyone starts with
equal forces. In BATTLETECH games, you
can use tonnage. In historical war games,
you can use the point system found in
most sets of rules. Unless you are gaming
in a specific time period or unusual situation that demands unequal distribution of
forces, there is no faster way to end a
campaign than to have it unevenly divided
at the start.
Rule #7: Make sure everyone agrees on
the rules to be used in the game (or at
least that everyone will abide by the
judge’s rulings). This seems like a strange
statement, but you’ll always have at least
one person who interprets the rules differently. Have several meetings to discuss
the rules and listen carefully to your players’ comments and questions. If everyone
appears confused, maybe the rules aren’t
clear enough. If everyone wants off-thewall conversions or units, maybe your
standards need to be tightened and a
different approach taken. Learn from
your players; your game is a partnership
with them, and if either partner fails, the
game will fail.
Rule #8: Don’t build unattainable objectives into your campaign. Conquering a
country is nice, but if it completely guts
someone’s army it isn’t going to appeal to
anyone. Work out different levels of victory and have them available to each side
when you start, so everyone can plan
strategy.
Rule #9: Arrange your campaign to have
flexibility. It is helpful for you as the judge
to arrange one night or day per week as
“turn hand-in” or mapping time, but it also
helps to allow the players to set up meeting times for battles at their own convenience. If there are many conflicts to be
resolved, allow adequate time between
mapping or “turn hand-in” nights to make
sure everything for that turn is finished
up. Be sure that you have penalties for
missing a turn, as there are always procrastinators who can ruin your game by
not doing their turns or fighting their
battles. Such things as “die roll” battles
with huge negative modifiers applied to
the missing side are possible solutions.
Rule #10: Lastly, arrange the campaign
with one of its objectives being “fun.”
While campaigns are always more intense
than single games, keep the amount of
work involved down as much as possible.
If it’s not fun, why do it?
I don’t think I’ve ever seen a campaign
that neatly follows all of these guidelines,
Even I am guilty of slaughtering one or
several of these very general rules. But I
guarantee that the more rules you follow,
the easier and smoother your campaign
will run, and the more your players will
enjoy it.
Reviews
Miniatures’ product ratings
*
**
***
****
*****
Poor
Below average
Average
Above average
Excellent
West End Games
RD 3, Box 2345
Honesdale PA 18431
WEG 40302—Imperial
Forces set
****½
West End Games’ STAR WARS® universe
continues to expand. The Imperial Forces
set submitted for review represents a
group of “bad guys” for use with the roleplaying game or for collecting. These
miniatures are sculpted and molded for
West End by Grenadier Models. The set
presents a group of 10 figures from the
crew of the Imperial Death Star. The set
can be broken up into four categories:
Group #1: Stormtroopers—What would
a STAR WARS game be without a good
battle? This group of three Imperial
Stormtroopers is ready to provide one.
Each soldier wears the characteristic
jointed armor from the movies. One
Stormtrooper is moving semi-crouched,
easing forward to scout and avoid getting
hit. The second ‘trooper is walking forward with his blaster obviously ready to
fire. The third is standing with his blaster
in a ready position. All three figures were
without flash, and the details held up well
for painting.
Group #2: This group consists of a pilot
team: one fighter pilot and one Imperial
‘droid. The fighter pilot wears a helmet
with communications gear by his ear and
a respirator unit strapped to his chest with
air hoses going to his mouthpiece. The
pilot’s faceplate obscures ‘much of his
facial detail. He carries a blaster in his
lowered right hand and wears coveralls
secured by a belt at the waist and tucked
into his boots. The Imperial ‘droid has
visible power connections and flex joints.
Its face narrows down to a nosepiece
which looks like a funnel, though otherwise it looks like C3P0. The robot should
be either black or white. Some instrument
panels are on its front and back, but I
couldn’t discern much of the detail. There
was no flash on either figure, and molding
is crisp.
Group #3: This group consists of one
officer and two enlisted types from the
Death Star’s crew. The officer is either
instructing someone on a task or else
pointing something out. The officer wears
a forage cap that extends to his ear and
has a very small brim. The figure’s facial
detail is not as good as the other figures
reviewed in this group. He has a wraparound jacket secured by a belt at the
waist; a medal appears on his chest.
The Death Star trooper wears a long
half-teardrop helmet with a chin strap but
no faceplate. His face protector is raised,
and his face is well detailed. He wears
gauntlets and has a gun ready to fire in his
right hand. His long-sleeved tunic extends
below his waist, and his pants are tucked
into his boots.
The Death Star gunner is dressed like
the ‘trooper, though he wears padded
STAR WARS® Imperial Forces set (West End Games)
armor and his faceplate is down. A gun is
held in his left hand. Many pockets appear
on his armor.
The remaining two figures are the high
commanders of the Empire. One is Grand
Moff Tarkin. Tarkin has his hands behind
his back in a parade-rest pose. His head is
bare, and his hair is short; a serious look
appears on his face. He too wears a wraparound jacket secured at the waist with a
belt and buttons on the front. A row of
decorations is on the upper left side of his
jacket. He wears a simple pair of pants and
boots. There was some flash between his
arms and body.
Last, but not least, is Darth Vader himself. Vader is nearly identical to his appearance the movies, except for his helmet,
which does not flare out nearly as much at
the bottom. His lightsaber came out well,
as did his arms. The only problems with
the figure were a mold line that ran diagonally on both front and back and a slight
leg defect that was easily fixed.
I highly recommend these figures to
anyone who is either a Star Wars fan or a
player of the role-playing game. These
figures will help certain gaming scenarios
but are of more limited use on a long-term
basis. They are good for dioramas as well.
This set sells for $12.
In Service Miniatures
P.O. Box 510
Lakewood CA 90714-0510
6039—SA-12 Gladiator half battery
****
with control
One of the most important goals of any
modern army is to gain control of the
skies. In BATTLETECH games, aerospace
fighters duke it out to prevent raids. On
the modern battlefield, control is gained
and held by an interlocking antiaircraft
chain of guns, planes, and surface-to-air
missiles (SAMs).
The models submitted for review are
scale copies of a system now being extensively introduced in the USSR. The SA-12
system has been billed as a replacement for
the old SA-4, which is over 20 years old.
These missiles are designed to knock
aircraft out from low to very high altitudes
and have a reputed range of 175 miles with
Photography by Michael Bethke
a fair degree of accuracy, depending on
what source-of military information you
read. These missiles are not offensive weapons, but they can reputedly destroy such
weapons as cruise missiles or high-flying
bombers. The missile batteries are usually
deployed 10-20 km behind the lines.
The miniatures presented for review
make up one-half of the organization listed
in several unclassified Department of
Defense reports for this weapon. The
package contains six vehicles, of which
two are search and target-acquisition
radar units, two are actual missile
launchers, one is a reload vehicle, and one
is a command vehicle. In addition to the
basic vehicles, add-on equipment is also
present. All vehicles are based on the same
Soviet vehicle, which has six road wheels
and four return rollers to keep the truck
stable and running smoothly. Each vehicle
is different but uses this basic chassis-andcab design.
The launching units require the most
assembly. The launchers can be built in.
either the launching or the carrying ‘position. The launching position has the two
“tubes” and the radar pointing straight up,
while the carrying position has the “tubes”
and radar down on the truck. The radar
vehicles give you the same choice but have
guide holes on the model to show you
where the radar goes. If you want the
units to be in a “moving” position, you
must clip off part of each radar unit’s base
peg. If you want them in the ready position, you will have to fill two of the deck
holes on each model with putty.
The reload vehicle carries four reloads
and a crane. Both it and the command unit
come in one piece and require no assembly.
This is a good set of vehicles with virtually no flash. Mold pitting appears on the
decks of some of the vehicles, but many of
the tool boxes show through well. In addition to the set’s use on a modern battlefield, you could use it for BATTLETECH
games as a mobile AC 30 team or a PPC
team. With the radar and sensing arrays,
they could even be cruise-missile or LRM
launchers. I highly recommend these
vehicles, which sell for $4.75 per pack.
DRAGON
105
Game Designer’s Workshop
P.O. Box 1646
Bloomington IL 61702-1646
GDW 1821—Victorian
Adventurers
*****
The SPACE: 1889™ game continues to be
a bridge between historical and fantasy
role-playing. With the addition of the
Victorian Adventurers set, you can now
add town and village conflicts to battles
otherwise fought only between rebellious
tribes and soldiers of the British Empire.
Many of the military actions taken during
the real-worlds Colonial period were
justified as being relief or safety columns
for civilians, missionaries, or traders
caught in the middle of a hostile area.
Using this justification, many of the colonial powers extended their influences over
vast territories.
The set submitted for review consists of
10 unpainted metal figures, created by
RAFM for GDW. The bases are a little
small for the figures but will hold them up
as long as there isn’t a role-playing earthquake. A description of each figure
follows:
1. Army officer with revolver—This 25
mm figure has calf-length boots with
grooves where the bootlaces ought to be.
His pants have a slightly raised seam for
the necessary stripe. The jacket has the
typical narrow officer’s shoulder boards
and prominent buttons. From his narrow
belt hangs a holster and a sword in its
scabbard; the officer grasps the sword
hilt. His cross strap is visible, as is the
cartridge or map case, decorations, and
other details. His garrison-type hat has
clean detail on its insignia and strap. The
face is clean shaven, and there is some
pitting on the right side of the face as if
from an old case of acne. The pistol in the
figure’s right hand is too thick.
2. Army officer with sword—This officer
Victorian Adventurers
(Game Designer’s Workshop)
106 JUNE 1990
is much like the first one, though he has
smooth boots, a holstered pistol, and an
aggressive stance with his sword out in a
challenging position. His helmet has screen
wrapping and an insignia. A moustache
flares out near the corners of his mouth.
The facial features on this figure are very
good. The only problem with this figure is
the sword, which is too thick—a very
common problem on miniatures.
3. Naval officer—This officer represents
a typical sea-going officer. He wears a
double-breasted waistcoat held by a belt
with an engraved buckle. The buttons
stand out well against the coat and are
easy to paint. The top of the coat shows a
shirt with a flared collar and bow tie. His
baggy pants have the typical seam stripe,
and he wears low-top boots. His right
hand clutches a spy glass. His sleeves bear
the three rings and loop of the old naval
captain. The cap is the pillbox type with
wide brim and bill. His face is serene, with
a bushy moustache and sideburns. His
sword hangs in its scabbard on the left.
4. Inventor with pistol—This civilian
figure wears regular trousers, low shoes,
and an open suit coat. Revealed under the
coat is a button-down shirt and a string
tie. In his left hand the inventor holds a
four-shot derringer in the manner of a
starting gun, and in his right he holds a
device that looks like a detector of some
sort. On his head is a hat of the type made
famous by Sherlock Holmes. His mouth is
set in a grim expression; he has good facial
character and long sideburns.
5. Thug—This “gentleman“ is obviously
looking for trouble and intends to find it.
He has a muscular build covered by an
open shirt front that shows a musclemolded T-shirt beneath. His long wrinkled
pants are slightly bunched on the tops of
his shoes and are held up by not only a
belt but by suspenders as well. A rag
hangs from his rear pocket. His right hand
is made into a fist, and with his left hand
he is rolling up his right sleeve. He wears
an ugly scowl.
6. Missionary—This fellow is working
hard at bringing Christianity to the natives. He is dressed in a single-breasted
suit jacket that shows a regular shirt and
tie beneath it. In his left hand he holds an
open Bible, and in his right he holds a
cross aloft. His face is partially hidden by a
Van Dyke beard and moustache, but a look
of happiness is evident. He also wears a
pith helmet with a wide sash.
7. Lady with revolver—This is one nononsense female. Her hair is pulled back
into the bun that was common in the late
19th century, with one or two curls falling
onto her forehead. Small earrings are visible on both ears. The facial detail is excellent, giving a very vivid impression of a
woman who has had too many bad experiences, hence her grim appearance. She
wears a long dress with puffed sleeves and
a handkerchief around her neck. The dress
stretches down to her high-topped shoes.
She holds her revolver with both hands.
8. Lady in traveling clothes—This is a gal
in a hurry. The figure is posed as if moving quickly and glancing to the side. She
wears a long formal dress that stretches
from her shoulders down to the ground,
leaving just enough room for one sharptoed shoe to poke out. The dress has short
sleeves and frills. A handbag is held in her
right hand, and her left hand is reaching
out. Her short hair is covered by a hat
with a wide brim. Earrings are visible on
both ears, and her face looks vaguely like
a young Queen Elizabeth. With the dress
pulled tight in the right places as if she
were running, it is clear that the sculptor
took a great deal of time and effort with
this figure.
9. Gentleman in top hat—This fellow was
typecast as an arch-villain, a perfect representation of the landlord shown in the old
silent pictures. He poses regally, facing
forward with a mirthless demeanor, and a
monocle covers his right eye. His short
beard, without sideburns or moustache,
gives him an odd look. His curly hair is
covered mostly by a stovepipe hat. His suit
coat is open at the front, exposing a vest
complete with several buttons and a watch
chain. His trousers hang straight, with no
creases, down to his formal shoes. In his
right hand he holds a walking stick with
head and tip, and in his right hand he
holds the lapel on his coat as if posing.
10. Hill Martian nomad—This figure is
immense compared to the others in the
set. His build is stocky with sharp, angular
musculature on all four limbs and chest.
His arms are bare from shoulders to forearms, where engraved bracers begin. In
his right hand he holds a halberd-type
weapon, and in his left hand is a sword
with a hooked end. His chest and back are
covered by armor plates that extend down
to knee level but leave his legs free. The
front and back plates of the armor are
held together by a belt that also holds
another sword, a pouch, and the scabbard
for the large sword. His feet are clad in
sandals with fringed tops, and his hair is
blown back as though in a wind. His expression is grim and foreboding.
Also included in this set is a detailed
painting guide. This guide suggests differ:
ent color schemes for the figures and also
has a full set of directions on how to paint
these figures using the stain method. This
is a method which takes some practice, so
read the instructions carefully and practice on another figure using water-based
paints first.
With the exception of the nomad, these
figures are excellent reproductions of
people from our past. The work is very
well done and matches many of my books
perfectly for the colonial period. These are
premium figures that can be painted up to
present an unending series as possible
scenarios in either real-world colonial
settings or the fantasy colonial period of
SPACE: 1889 games. If nothing else, I recommend that you pick up these figures for
displaying for their wealth of detail. You
can be proud of them. They are only sold
as a set for $10.95.